A Life Of Peace

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/31545350.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Category: F/M
Fandom: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Relationships: Karl Heisenberg/Reader, Karl Heisenberg/You
Characters: Karl Heisenberg, Mother Miranda (Resident Evil), Alcina Dimitrescu, Alcina
Dimitrescu's Daughters, Salvatore Moreau, Donna Beneviento, Reader, Ethan
Winters, Rosemary Winters (Resident Evil), Cassandra (Resident Evil), Bela
(Resident Evil), Daniela (Resident Evil), Mia Winters, Chris Redfield
Additional Tags: Karl Heisenberg is in love, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Sexual Tension,
Heisenberg needs a hug, Pet Names, Cuddling & Snuggling, Kissing,
Possessive Behavior, Possessive Heisenberg, Heisenberg can be soft, he is also
a dick, Dirty Talk, Fluff and Angst, Violence, Moreau deserves some kindness
too, Heisenberg doesnt know how to handle his feelings, Trust Issues, anger
issues, Abandonment Issues, Ties Into Canon, Pre-Canon, Dry Humping,
Masturbation, Blow Jobs, Cunnilingus, Penis In Vagina Sex, Overstimulation,
Sex with love, Love Confessions, Killing Mother Miranda, Major Character
Injury, Alternative ending; Heisenberg survives, Ethan Winters Lives,
Hurt/Comfort, Betrayal, broken trust, Dangerous Heisenberg, be prepared to
have your heart broken, Post-Canon, Childhood Trauma, Murder, Getting over
your past, Healthy relationship tactics, Developing Relationship, Reader and
Heisenberg work on their relationship, eventual pregnancy, Building a family,
Birth, Karl might have a breeding kink, Karl wants to be a dad, The Duke is
misterious as fuck, Eventual marriage, Wedding, The Lords can't be killed,
Domestic Fluff, The love of family, Karl doesnt hate the others like he thought
he did
Language: English
Collections: Books to be binded, 336 Hours: A Comprehensive and Preeminent Reader-
Insert Collection, Favorite RE Fics
Stats: Published: 2021-05-26 Completed: 2023-08-01 Words: 181,705 Chapters:
52/52
 A Life Of Peace
by Zockerbestha

Summary

After being captured and taken to Mother Miranda, she lets you choose which Lord shall take you
under their wing. Choosing to go with the one that seems easiest to escape from, you quickly find
that you chose wrong. But you get to see a softer side of the most dangerous Lord and together, you
will leave this village someday.

Notes

Hello everyone! Hope I can add to some of those delicious Heisenberg fics!

See the end of the work for more notes

 Choose Wisely

You don’t remember much about how you got here. You remembered stumbling into this strange
village, halfway at death's door. You didn’t even know there was a village to begin with, as no maps
seemed to know about it.

You remembered flashes of strange and dangerous creatures, chasing you, killing whatever
survivors you had encountered. It looked like you were the only one left. What the hell was going
on here?

The strange cross between a wolf and a human chased you through hell and back, at least it felt like
it. You managed to kill two of them if your memory does not fool you. Their malicious jaws
snapped at you, sending terror through your tired body.

The last few memories you have showed a dark, long cave with seemingly no end. Why you
thought it was a good idea to enter? Well, it wasn’t like the howls behind you gave you much of a
choice on the matter.

The last thing you remembered was something hitting your head, hard. It dropped to the ground
next to you and you think it sounded like metal. You couldn’t confirm that though, since darkness
overtook your senses just moments after.

Now, you heard voices. Faint at first, but then getting louder. You weren't sure if its voices coming
towards you, or if it was your mind slowly starting to wake up. Either way, you heard them now.

You didn’t open your eyes yet, deciding it would be best to wait until you could make some sort of
sense of the situation.

You made out five different voices.

The first one boomed through the room. It was a female voice and it dripped with distaste, but by
her phrasing, you got the feeling it was a noblewoman, or at least someone with high status and
probably a big ego. She seemed to think of herself as better as the others with her.

The second voice was almost shrill enough to make you flinch. You first assumed it must be a
child, though it sounded too – how to put it – mechanical. Like it wasn’t even quite human.

The third voice was another woman. She didn’t seem to talk much, she just occasionally interrupted
the heated argument between the people in the room, almost like she was overseeing it and making
sure things didn't escalde too much.

The fourth actually did make you flinch. It was a deep voice, but it sounded almost muffled. Like
the person talking had his mouth full of something, maybe eating? You couldn’t quite tell, but
somehow, you got the feeling that the fish-like stench came from the man.

The last voice in the room could’ve easily been the loudest. A deep and rough voice, definitely a
man. Whenever he spoke, the sound of something dragging along the floor could be heard. It
sounded heavy.
The man and the first woman seemed to be in a deep argument, though it didn’t seem like it was
about you at all.

“Urgh, could you perhaps step outside? Your man-stench is unbearable.”

“My stench?! Is your head too high up to notice the smell of your huge feet?!”

It sounded like useless bickering, the two didn’t seem to get along.

The curiosity to put faces to those voices got the better of you as you slowly opened one eye at a
time. You barely managed to hold back a screech of terror at the scene that greeted you.

The tallest woman to have ever walked the earth, towering over a scrubby looking man, wielding a
huge hammer.

A doll was dancing around them, using her shrill voice to encourage them to fight. Desperately you
searched for some kind of string mechanism holding it up, because surely it couldn’t be moving on
its own. The dark figure sitting behind it seemed to be connected to it somehow, as she watched
closely at what the doll was up to.

On the other side of the room stood…something with a hunchback. A dark cloak covered the whole
body and as it mumbled to itself, you realised it was the fourth voice you’ve heard, the man that
had his mouth full. To your dismay, it seems like his voice sounded like that because of his
deformities.

Finally, you looked at the last figure standing there ominously. A woman, covered with feathers,
wearing a golden sort of mask. As you looked at her face, you made eye contact. She unfurled three
sets of wings from her back, the force of which could be felt in the whole room, quieting everyone
down immediately.

“She is awake.”

As all eyes turned towards you, you finally realised that not only were you lying on the cold floor,
but you were also in a cell and your chest throbbed from a deep cutting pain. The adrenalin flowing
through your body seemed to have pushed the pain away for the moment, but it wouldn’t hold long.

The woman started walking towards you, but the little doll beat her to it, running at the cage like a
child who was in a zoo, wanting to see the monkeys.

You flinched back with a startled sort of yelp, the movement making you groan out in pain right
after. Your hand went to your chest, feeling a deep scar there. It was long, stretching from one
collarbone to the other in a V-Shape, all the way down to your sternum.

“Donna! Call back your doll at once!” The tall woman yelled before anyone else could react.

The dark figure at the edge of the room nodded, lifting her hand. The doll giggled and ran back to
her mistress, climbing into her lap.

Even though the interaction didn’t seem to be of any care to him, the man with the hammer jumped
at the chance to yell at the tall woman once more. “OH! Our dear Lady seems to have become even
bigger! Last I heard, your sorry ass can’t tell us what to do!”
The woman you now knew as Donna didn’t even seem to mind at all. She just gently patted the vail
on top of the dolls head in a loving manner.

Before the two could continue to go at each other’s throats, the crow-like woman yelled one single,
but strong word.

“Silence!”

The reaction was immediate, everyone straightened their back, heads slightly bowed in submission.
They all murmured a quiet “Yes, Mother Miranda”, even the man with the hunchback in the back,
who hadn’t had anything to do with the whole interaction.

Mother Miranda, as you now knew her name to be, shook her head slightly before moving closer to
you once more. You wanted to back away, to press yourself as far back into the cell as possible but
your limps were weak, you could barely hold yourself up from the ground at all. So, when Mother
Miranda crouched down to you, you simply looked back at her with feat written all over your face.

Her eyes behind that mask were a haunting ice blue. You wouldn’t be surprised if someone shaped
some ice into eyes and gave them to her, perhaps as a gift. She appeared powerful and strong,
maybe not even entirely human. You even felt ice cold when she just stared at you for a minute.

“How are you, child?”

Of all the things she could’ve asked, somehow you didn’t even consider this question a possibility.
The way she looked at you was motherly, but the word “child” gave you a chill. You couldn’t say
why.

“P-Pain.” You somehow croaked out, your throat painfully dry.

When was the last time you had anything to drink? Perhaps some water would be nice…or
something stronger maybe.

“I see.” Mother Miranda said.

She got up again, a key seemingly manifesting from nowhere, but it was in her hand, in the end, all
the same. She inserted it into the lock of the cell, twisting it twice. The metal door slammed open
fast and hit the wall hard, making you cower away in fear.

Mother Miranda turned slightly to the man with the big hammer, glaring at him, as if he had
anything to do with it. He was at least two meters away, how could she even think he did that. But
at the way he smirked, you suddenly weren’t as sure anymore.

Sighing as if she had a headache, Mother Miranda turned back to you and stretched her hands down
invitingly. “Come child. Can you stand?”

Hesitantly you reached up and grabbed her hands, slowly rising from the ground. You hissed and
groaned in pain at every move, your legs shaking with strain. Sensing this, Mother Miranda gave a
short nod to the tall woman, who sprang into action immediately.

With hands, far more gentle than you had assumed from their size, she picked you up, supporting
your back with one hand and placing the other under your knees. While the style she held you with
was that of a bride being carried, you felt more like a small child being cradled by their mother.
Finally, outside of the cell, you could take in your surroundings. You didn’t recognize any of it, but
from the looks of it, you were in an abandoned church, or maybe a some sort of chapel.

Carefully, the Lady placed you down on a plush chair. You peeked up into her yellow eyes and saw
something almost animalistic in them. It shocked you. She looked noble, a woman of high standard
for sure. She was beautiful, the red lipstick stuck out well from her porcelain skin. She was the
perfect Lady, but her eyes were haunting. While she was gentle and smiled at you, her eyes looked
like those of a predator, looking at its prey. The mixture was unnerving.

“My dear, mind your manners. Staring is rude.”

Her words snapped you out of your mind again. “S…Sorry.”

As if on cue by hearing your sore throat, the man with the hunchback approached, sadly along with
his smell. Before you could even think to flinch back or even hold your nose closed, he held a glass
of clear liquid, water presumably, towards you.

“Here! It’s the cleanest in the reservoir!” He sounded way too excited about it.

It made you a little suspicious. But you felt like there wasn’t a real choice here. Who would decline
something as simple as water with so many obviously dangerous people around?

You took it gently, trying not to grimace when you felt a slimy substance on the glass where he had
touched it. You hesitated but drank. It was indeed water and you couldn’t help but sigh with relief
as it washed down your aching throat in a soothing manner.

“Thank you.”

The man's eyes widened as if he hadn’t heard those words in years. It seemed like he wanted to say
something more, but the rough voice of the other man didn’t let him.

“Move along, fish freak! Mother Miranda wants to give her something.”

Despite your better judgment, you turned towards the man and glared at him. He raised an eyebrow
at you, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. He was daring you to do something, as if you could,
in the state you were in.

Mother Miranda's voice brought you back though. She held out a plant to you. “Eat this child. It
will help with the pain.”

And you took it, eating it slowly. These people were weird, but so far weren’t particularly hostile
towards you. You wondered what was going on. Did these people rescue you, or were they the ones
to capture you? What did they want from you?

You swallowed the rest of the plant together with a gulp of water. The pain in your chest lessened,
not exactly gone, but definitely better.

Gathering the rest of your senses, you finally asked: “Who are you people? And where the hell am
I?”

The tall Lady rolled her eyes, the way you talked seemingly putting her off. Hammer-Dude
chuckled, as if you had made some sort of joke.
Mother Miranda just smiled, you realized it was meant to be kind, but it came off as creepy to you.
“Oh child, you’re right. I shall introduce everyone.”

She went over to the tall woman, who straightened her back proudly as Mother Miranda introduced
her.

“This is my eldest daughter, Lady Alcina Dimitrescu. Perhaps you have caught a glimpse of her
castle that stands above the village.”

Despite the Lady scaring you, you let out a quiet snicker.

That seemed to throw Lady Dimitrescu off even more. “Is something funny, child?”

You sensed the danger in her tone and were smart enough not to mention that it was obvious a
woman of her size needed a whole goddamn castle. You simply shook your head.

Mother Miranda continued as if nothing had happened, laying her hand on the shoulder of the
cloaked woman with the doll.

“And this is my second oldest, Donna Beneviento, accompanied by her…friend Angie.”

Mother Miranda had to pause, as if to decide what exactly to call that doll as to not agitate Donna.
While Donna just gave you a curt nod, Angie bounced on her lap, clearly struggling against her
mistress’s hands holding her down. “You wanna play at our house?! We’re sure to give you a nice
party!”

Somehow, you didn’t believe that doll. Still, you were wondering how it talked and moved on its
own.

“At last, my two sons.” Mother Miranda silenced any further talk between the doll and you.

She, almost dismissively, gestured towards the hunchback. “My second youngest, Salvatore
Moreau.”

She didn’t even bat an eye at him as she talked, while Moreau looked up at his mother in awe. It
made you feel a little sad.

Lastly, she went to the last man standing, touching his upper arm. You could tell that he was tensing
up, saw it in the way the muscles of his neck flexed. From Mother Miranda's angle, she probably
couldn’t tell. Or she simply didn’t care.

“Karl Heisenberg, Lord of metal. I’m sure you have seen his factory on the outskirts of the village.
After all, you were running towards it through that cave.”

Your attention snapped up to her. So they were the ones who knocked you out! The huge scar on
your chest was inflicted by them as well then. What have they done to you?

Before you could voice any of this, Heisenberg snapped. “Enough talking already! Some of us have
other things to do.”

You got the feeling he was staring at you, but the dark lenses perched on his nose didn’t allow for
you to see it clearly.
“Very well.” Mother Miranda went back to her throne, sitting down. Distantly you thought of how
arrogant she was, not introducing herself to you, as if you were supposed to know her already.

What she said next made your whole body freeze.

“Who wants to take her?”

As if waiting for these very words, Lady Dimitrescu spoke up. “Mother Miranda, I think it is a
clear choice that I should take her! That young thing could use some teachings in manners and my
daughter so love meeting new people.”

Heisenberg storms towards her, huge hammer slung casually over his shoulder. “Shut your fucking
hole! That girl could use a man's touch if anything! And your three beasts you call daughters would
just rip her apart like the last one!”

“How dare you insult my daughters you filthy man-thing! As if you child were even an option
here!”

It was honestly intimidating to watch these two fight, you basically sitting in the middle of two
giants.

Their arguments seemed to be way more than just simple sibling bickerings.

“What the hell are you even talking about?! I’m not going with anyone!” You finally mustered up
enough courage to raise your voice. It was short-lived however as both Heisenberg and Dimitrescu
turned to yell at you.

“Shut your mouth!”

“Quiet!”

You shrunk away immediately, realizing you held no power over your fate when faced against
them. You heard Angie trying to make her case as well, but her shrill voice was no match to the
other two. Moreau didn’t even seem to want to try.

After Lady Dimitrescu and Heisenberg started to threaten each other instead of arguing their case,
you heard Mother Miranda stand up again. She didn’t even have to say anything for the two to snap
their mouth shut this time, glaring at the other quietly.

Miranda rubbed her temples in small circles, clearly annoyed. “Let’s try something else…She shall
choose the Lady or Lord that shall become her guardian herself.”

Guardian? What the hell was going on?!

Once more, all eyes snapped towards you. Oh no, this couldn’t end well, you realized.

“Now my dear, the choice is easy isn’t it? Do you really consider choosing that wretched boy over a
true Lady like me?” Lady Dimitrescu gestured at Heisenberg, her eyes roaming over your body. It’s
the same look from before, that smile of a predator.

“As if!” Heisenberg laughed directly at the woman's face before turning to you. “Hey, just so you
know, her daughters are quite big on biting people! Not to mention that as untouched as you look,
you will quickly learn what our dear Lady does in her dungeons.”
The two turned back to arguing and insulting each other. Your mind was racing, thinking of ways to
escape this place, but five people coming right after you didn’t seem like a good chance of actually
making it.

Something tugged on your pant leg, you looked down at the porcelain face of Angie. “Come with
us! Our house needs a new friend! We have many friends at home already! You wouldn’t feel
alone. Not ever again.”

She was giggling and bouncing, as if this was all a big joke. Desperately you turned your head to
where Moreau was standing, but he has vanished. While he certainly was the most disgusting one
of the four, he also seemed to be the most kind, but by the looks of it, he had left, clearly assuming
that he didn’t have any chance at all.

A growl snapped your attention back, Heisenberg now towering over you. This close, you could see
his eyes glaring at you through the dark glasses as you tried to cower away. He looked offended.

“Moreau?! You’re thinking about picking that freak over me?!”

It made you flinch, but he was yanked back by Lady Dimitrescu. “See how gauche he is?! Come to
my castle with me. We have great wine.”

Miranda appeared to have had enough, with a flash of her feathers she was behind you, both hands
on your shoulders, even as you tensed up. “Silence!”

It was kind of satisfying to see the others flinch as well, made you feel like it wasn’t just you that
was under a threat.

“Child, choose your pick.”

The remaining three stood before you, Donna having risen from her chair and holding Angie to her
chest. Everyone looked at you expectantly.

A pit was forming in your stomach, the fear of angering any of them was real and you remained
quiet for a moment. But in the end, wasn’t this mercy? Mother Miranda gave you the choice, you
could choose your doom. Or who you presume you could survive the longest or escape from
easiest.

You looked at Donna, Angie waving at you excitedly. While Donna looked the most dormant, both
she and Angie creeped you out immensely. You had a feeling that if you went with Donna, you
would be stuck in her grasp forever, she was hiding something much darker under her veil. Donna
was out.

You looked at Heisenberg, giving you a smug grin. His huge hammer, which he swung around like
it weighed nothing, was definitely a big threat to your life. But maybe it also meant it was slowing
him down, at least a little.

Looking up at Lady Dimitrescu didn’t make the choice easier. That hunger in her eyes made you
think of Heisenberg's words before, how her daughters were big on biting. And while a castle
certainly would give you enough spaces to hide in, you would basically be fighting to escape four
people.
The choice wasn’t easy, but Heisenberg's factory looked to be the easiest option. The factory didn’t
look that big when you saw it and you were certainly more agile than him. In Heisenberg, you saw
something the other two didn’t give you: A chance to escape.

Taking a deep breath, you pointed at him, enduring the ensuing curses from Lady Dimitrescu and
the whines of Angie. You had made your choice.

Somehow, Heisenberg's smug face irritated you most.

 Home
Chapter Notes

Thank you all so much for reading!

Lady Dimitrescu scoffed at you, angrily stomping off, you assumed back to her castle. Donna gave
a slight bow of her head. It was hard to read her emotions but at least she didn’t seem to be as
pissed at you as the Lady was.

Out of courtesy, you returned that gesture to her, watching her take her leave as you took a step
back. You crashed against something, or rather someone, else. A deep chuckle rumbled out of
Heisenberg's chest behind you. How did he get behind you without you realizing it?

“Alright, let's get you to your new home.” Heisenberg laughed, he made it sound like wherever you
were going to would be anything else but a home.

He took one single step towards the exit, clearly expecting you to follow, as black feathers rushed
past. Mother Miranda grabbed him by his wrist and once again, you saw him tense up.

“Heisenberg.” Her tone was…cold. There was no other word for it.

He didn’t turn to her, just stayed perfectly still. “Yes, Mother Miranda?”

You saw her grip on his wrist tighten slightly. “I expect you to look after her, do what you deem
necessary…But don’t kill her.”

You shivered where you stood, the possibility of any of them really killing you somehow didn’t
occur to you yet, or you simply chose to ignore it. But the fact that Heisenberg had to specifically
be reminded of it made you question if perhaps Lady Dimitrescu or Donna would've been the better
pick.

You could tell that he was struggling to not just yank his hand away as he almost spits out the
words. “Of course not, mother.”

Mother Miranda appeared to accept that answer, finally letting him go, his body still on edge. She
turned towards you for the last time in a while you'd come to learn.

“He’ll protect you, child. I’ll see you again soon.” She touched your cheek, that motherly feeling
washing over you once more before she vanished, as if into thin air.

Yeah, she definitely wasn't human, which brought up the question what else she could be.

An awkward silence followed, Heisenberg and you just standing still for a moment. He took a long
deep breath, releasing it slowly. “Come on.”
He started walking again and you thought about just going the other way than he went, as he had
his back to you. But you were scared to end up in the arms of someone else and despite the
persistent pain in your chest, you rushed after him.

You squinted against the sun as you made it outside. You didn’t know what time it is but judging by
how low the sun hung in the sky, you guessed it was evening. If only you knew if it was still the
same day you were captured.

Heisenberg looked you over, his face was barely readable with those dark glasses and hat covering
his face almost completely. “Does my new play-thing have a name?”

Even though you were scared, okay maybe even terrified, you still let your irritation at the words
“play-thing” show. In total defiance, you didn’t answer him, only looked to your side.

“Oh. Did I get myself a little brat?” He asked, his patience, if he had any to begin with, running
thin, though there was amusment in his tone too. “I give you one last chance to answer my
question.”

You turned your head back at him, challenging him. “Or what?”

Stupid response, you knew it immediately. As his throaty laugh haled through the empty village,
the creatures you were previously running from came out of almost every house around you.
Slowly they surrounded the both of you, but it was clear that their only target was you. They
growled and snapped at your legs and you began to panic.

“Miranda said I couldn’t kill you. But she said nothing about having my pets here give you a rough
time.” Heisenberg pointed out smugly.

You had moved closer to him without meaning to, but as the beats continued to try and bite you,
you looked back at him with gritted teeth. “Y/N.”

He whistled a single note and the beats retreated, going back to whatever they were doing before he
called them.

“Was that so fucking hard? Now come on.”

He started walking again and you rushed to his side, knowing that his creatures were still lingering
around you. His huge hammer was leisurely draped over his left shoulder and you began to wonder
if it was only a prop of some kind. How can someone lift that damn thing otherwise? With such
ease no less.

He reached into his coat, retrieving a cigar that he lit and then stuck between his lips. You cringed
at the smell and he noticed.

“Not a smoker, are you?”

Once more, you stayed silent. It seemed you finally made him angry enough.

“God, you’re fucking boring! Are you just going to ignore me the whole time? If that’s your plan,
then I’d rather kick your sorry ass to the castle, watch you get eaten by my nieces.”

The threat was very real, you could tell.

“Well, what the hell do you want from me?!” You groaned in annoyance. “I don’t know what’s
going on! And can you blame me for being pissed because of whatever this here is?"

You weren’t thinking about your words and it showed. You tensed up, waiting for a blow from him
that never came. Instead, he began to chuckle.

“Now that’s the fire I like to see!”

You were getting annoyed, because all your outburst did was bring him some kind of sick joy. The
top of the Factory came into the view and you knew your time for escaping was running out.
Carefully, slowly, you let yourself fall behind, little by little. As he did before, he kept walking as if
there wasn’t any possibility of you leaving.

You really hoped that you could run faster than Heisenberg. When you managed to fall behind
about 10 meters, you stopped and turned around, starting to dash in the direction you came from.
Heisenberg either hadn’t noticed yet or didn’t care to yell after you if he did. Either way, you ran,
not looking back. It should've caught your attention that this seemed way too easy.

Your heart dropped when you heard something flying through the air, thinking it could be Mother
Miranda. Imagine the surprise on your face when that massive metal hammer rushed past you,
turning sideways and stopping suddenly so you had too little time to slow down. You ran directly
into the handle, your lungs wheezing with the force of it.

Not wasting any time at all, the hammer rushed back to its Master with you in tow, screaming in
pure terror as you clung to it for dear life. It stopped abruptly when Heisenberg caught it. You
smacked against his broad chest with your back, his hands grabbing both ends of the hammer,
caging you in against his body.

You groaned in pain, fighting for air like a fish out of water and shaking when you felt Heisenberg
breathe down your neck, dangerously close. He leaned down to your ear.

“That was really fucking stupid, Y/N.”

His voice was dark and low, making you shake even more. He didn’t have to raise his voice to
make you fear him. He pulled the handle further towards you, pressing you even more into him. A
warning.

“Is shit like this going to be a problem?”

You whimpered and shook your head. He growled, a deep rumbling in his chest and you felt the
vibrations on your back. Another warning before he released you. You sunk to your knees, not
caring one bit about the dirt and grime. Hot tears began to form in the corners of your eyes, the
reality of the situation finally catching up to you. But you didn’t cry, not in front of Heisenberg.

He waited for you to rise again, legs wobbly and weak. He groaned loud enough to alert the whole
village, if anyone was left to be alerted that is. His hammer started floating at his side, you didn’t
even have time to react to it before he roughly picked you up, just like Lady Dimitrescu had back in
the church. Only him carrying you didn’t feel the same as when she did it.

His hands were rough, and he pressed you against his body with way too much strength, making
you cry out in pain as your chest got squeezed. He ignored it and started walking again.
You dared to look up at his face. You were able to see under his glasses and you noticed a frown. It
almost looked…like guilt? No way, that man could not feel guilty. The angle must make it look like
it and the frown disappeared within seconds.

You closed your eyes, dreading the sound of the Factory gates opening. You realized that your
choice of going with Heisenberg was not the right one, if there even was a right choice to begin
with. Whatever those strange powers he had was, if he could catch you so easily, how are you
supposed to get out of his factory again?

You still had your eyes closed, but snapped them open when you heard the big metal doors
opening, Heisenberg carrying you inside. You craned your neck to look at the last glimpses of
sunlight before the doors shut closed behind the two of you with a deafening screech. It made you
flinch a little.

He chuckled darkly above you. “What is it bunny? Scared already?”

You glared at him, making him laugh even more. “Don’t you worry, I’m going to protect you.”

“You’re going to protect me? From yourself? Because that’s the only threat I see.”

Why? Why were you talking back at him? He was already mad enough after your escape attempt.

He walked into an elevator with you, pressing a few buttons. “Oh, believe me, you’ll soon see more
than just me.”

You let your head fall against his chest with a soft thud. You’re too tired to keep arguing with a mad
man.

When the elevator opened again, everything was dark. Anywhere you looked it was pitch black, but
Heisenberg walked forward as if that wasn’t an issue at all. You heard the distant noises of heavy
machinery, the sound of drills and metal scraping against metal. This place was creepy and you
pressed yourself closer to him, because what else could you do? It was too dark for you to even try
and memorize the way back to the elevator.

Finally, a door with an iron horse crest came into few, opening as soon as Heisenberg approached
it, as if it was waiting for his arrival. Soft light bathed the dark hallway and he stepped inside the
room, his hammer floating towards a wall to lean against.

“Can you stand on your own?”

Though the question itself was caring, the way he said it showed that he didn’t give one single fuck.
Afraid that he’d drop you to the floor otherwise, you nodded, and he slowly let you down. You felt
a little unsteady still, but you could manage. You had to.

You took in the room you were sure would be your new prison. It looked like a small apartment,
though the dust and grime you saw almost everywhere made it hard to believe that it was actually
any kind of living space. At the far wall was a simple king-sized bed, a kitchenette along the wall to
its right. The rest of the space was filled with all sorts of workbenches and tables, all covered in
various metal parts, tools and notes. There was one single door, aside from the entrance, which you
assumed lead to a bathroom.
“Welcome home!” Heisenberg broke the silence with the voice of a showman. “I don’t get many
guests, so this is all you get.”

You tried to act like it didn’t affect you, but your panic was settling in more and more. This was not
some sort of guest room, it was his room, meaning you wouldn’t be getting any sort of privacy. You
couldn’t even hide from him. You hoped dearly that he’d at least let you use the shower alone, but
when you glanced at him, you began to question if he even had a shower.

Metal screeching against the floor made you come back from your train of thoughts. Two chairs
were dragging towards the two of you, all on their own. Heisenberg took one and turned it around,
straddling it. He gestured for the other chair, clearly wanting you to sit down. You did.

“Now sweetheart, I’m sure you have a lot of questions in that pretty little head of yours. Although
you really pissed me off with your little stunt earlier, I’m feeling generous today, so go ahead.”

You eyed him suspiciously. You did have many questions, but why did it feel like asking them is a
trap?

“W-What…are you?”

He grinned wickedly, like he had been wainting for you to ask that. All around you, the metal scrap
began to float, vibrating as if to show off the dangers of what was to come.

“I am, as Miranda said, the Lord of metal. I control it, make it bend to my will.” He paused, eyeing
you up and down with a chuckle. “Funny, I’ll be doing the same thing to you.”

“How? How is that even possible?!”

The floating parts all flung themselves into the nearest wall, the sudden and harsh action making
you cower away in fear of getting hit. Seems like you hit a nerve.

He clenched his teeth, obviously trying to calm his impending rage.

“Miranda, that’s how.”

He nodded at your chest, towards the big scar. “And she did the same shit to you.”

You stared at him, the words not sinking in. You refused to believe that. No fucking way.

As if sensing that you don’t know how to handle this information, he continues.

“She calls it her gift. It’s a parasite of her own creation, eating away at your body and mind.
Depending on your genetics and a bit of random luck, you develop some kind of power. The
Lycans are all infected villagers, who couldn’t deal with the Cadou in their body, they’re too weak
to handle it, so the Cadou turns them into beasts.”

You touch your scar as you listened, your fingers shaking as the skin throbbed against the pads of
your fingers.

“But if you’re strong enough and everything goes well, you get powers like mine. Or maybe, you
grow inhumanly large like a certain bitch up in the castle. Or maybe you even become a disgusting
blob like Moreau. Or whatever else the Cadou might do to you.”
You take a shaking breath. “So you’re telling me I’ll become a monster? Why? Why would Mother
Miranda do this?!”

Heisenberg grimaced at the word "monster” but didn’t comment. He appeared to lose his nerves.

“Well, tough luck, I’m not in the mood to answer that shit for you. Besides, knowing Miranda, she
doesn’t want you to know yet anyway.”

“One…One last question.” You mumbled.

Heisenberg raised an eyebrow, rolling his eyes but nodding anyway.

“Are you the asshole that hit me in the head?”

The whole room went quiet, it felt like even the machines have stopped working. Heisenberg stared
at you, bewildered and confused. He shot up from the chair.

“That is your question?! Of all the things you could’ve asked?!”

“I heard fucking metal fall when I got knocked out! So answer me, was it you?!”

For the first time, Heisenberg looked to be the one not knowing what to do. He even ignored the
fact that you insulted him, too preoccupied with the realization that you might not be right in the
head.

He just told you a parasite was inplanted into your body and that you wouldn't be human for much
longer, yet this is what you felt the need to ask?

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

Instead of answering him, you crossed your arms over your chest, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

Heisenberg didn’t like that look and groaned out: “Yes, it was me!”

“I knew it! That fucking hurt, you know that?”

“Shut your damn hole you crazy little shit!”

From all corners of the room, metal parts flew towards you, wrapping around both your wrists and
ankles. The grip was right at the edge of tight and you stared at them in confusion, realizing you
couldn't take them off by yourself.

“Are you trying to give me some accessories?”

Heisenberg had enough of these games for today. “Oh no, but with these, you’re my little puppet.”

To prove this point, he used the metal to move you around the room, almost like he was making
you dance. You yelped at the feeling, wincing whenever certain movements caused the pain in your
chest to flare up again. He laughed when you tried to struggle against his powers, as if anything
you’d do would make any kind of difference.

At last, he moved you to the bed and dropped you on it. You struggled to find your breath as he
walked closer once more, stopping in front of you. One of his big hands went to your throat, not
using any pressure, but making sure you knew that he could if he needed to. He made you look at
him.

“Now, I’m going to work some more. You stay right here and sleep. Trust me, you’ll need it.”

With that, he let go of your throat, but moved the metal around your limbs once more until you
were laying on your back. He turned his back to you, the metal getting too heavy for you,
effectively trapping you in his bed completely immobilised.

He left without another word.

 Your New Reality
Chapter Notes

TW: Unconsensual medical examination. (Heisenberg feels bad for it though.)

Somehow, you managed to fall asleep. The mattress was soft and the pillows cosy, but mostly; You
were tired.

There was pain, there was fear and everything that Heisenberg told you just tore you down more.
Your body and mind needed some kind of peace, so sleep it was.

You woke up a few hours later, your head a little dizzy.

You had a dream about a lovely flower field, you were safe and content. Yet you woke up in the
dimly lit room of Heisenberg, the metal on your body still holding you down, though not as much
as before.

Your joints ached from being in the same position for so long and you groaned in discomfort.
Heisenberg groaned back at you right beside you, making you jump.

You opened your eyes fully, recognizing the body laying next to you as the Lord himself. He had
taken off his hat, coat and glasses, one arm lazily slung over his eyes.

Why was he in the same bed with you? Had he done something to you in your sleep? Was he
sleeping?

A shaky breath left your throat, and you couldn’t help but shutter. This was way too intimate.

“Why are you staring at me?” He finally grumbled, not moving an inch.

You turned your head away, heat rising to your cheeks. “I’m s-sorry.”

A deep breath made Heisenberg's chest rise, realising it slowly and he let the arm covering his eyes
fall to his side. As if on muscle memory, his usual grin spread over his face.

“No need to be. I’m handsome as fuck, so no wonder you stare.”

While you couldn’t really deny that statement, you huffed in annoyance.

“You’re a dick if anything…Could you please let me move? I’m uncomfortable.”

He rolled his head over to look at you, raising an eyebrow.

“You insult me and ask for a favour just afterwards. Why should I?”
Okay, good point. You bit your bottom lip, the thought of agreeing with him on anything unsettled
you slightly.

“I’m sorry I called you a dick.” You muttered, surprised when the pressure on your wrists and
ankles let up almost immediately.

Quickly you shot up into a sitting position, fearing he could be playing with you and just pin you
down again. He watched you with an amused smirk. You eyed him warily, slowly putting more
space between the two of you before laying down on your side. Despite wanting to turn away from
him and hide, you laid down facing him. Keeping an eye on your captor so he couldn’t do some
sketchy shit.

Heisenberg rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed now. “Listen, I promise I won’t mess with you when
you sleep. It’s no fun like that.”

“How can I trust your promise though? Do you even know how creepy it is to wake up next to
someone who has taken you prisoner?” You questioned him.

“Oh for fucks sake!” He seethed, the metal in the room starting to vibrate, as if he was barely
holding himself back. “Listen, I was nice to you and let you sleep in a real fucking bed! I could’ve
just hanged you on my wall or throw you in with some Lycans to snuggle with. And now you
expect me to sleep somewhere else than my own fucking bed?!”

You cowered further away from him at this outburst. Why did it feel like you had hurt him? You
told him the truth, can’t he understand how you feel? Why did he even care? Why did you care that
you had hurt him?

The vibrating of the scraps stopped abruptly, Heisenberg taking in a few calming breaths.

“Look, c-can we just go back to sleep? I’m really not in the mood to argue with you right now. I’ll
even let you move freely for now, it’s not like you could get out of the room anyway.”

You looked at his face, he was exhausted, you could tell. For some reason, you wished the lights
were a little bit brighter so that you could see his eyes clearly. “Okay.”

As if to prove to him that you meant it, you closed your eyes. You could feel him stare at you and
you had half a mind to give a snarky comment like he had done to you earlier, but the relieved sigh
you heard from him made you hold back.

Why did you feel bad for him?

You pondered over that question until you fell asleep once more.

When next you awoke, you were alone in bed. You let your hand slide over the spot he had slept
on, noting that it was cold. He must’ve left quite a while ago.

You rose from the bed, cautiously. He didn’t hold you down by his powers like he did the last time
he left you alone. Could this be your chance to try and escape again?

The temptation sat heavily in your chest and you walked over to the door Heisenberg had carried
you through the day before, gripping the handle and slowly pushed it down. It was locked. The
dread that this fact gave you made you want to vomit.
You went to the bathroom on shaking legs, pushing the door open with just a little glimmer of hope
in finding some kind of escape. But it was all solid walls, no windows or even a dent or a hole
somewhere to maybe crawl through. All it was, was a normal bathroom. Sink, toilette, a cabinet
and a shower, that’s it.

You closed the door behind you and pressed your back against it as you slid down to the floor,
hands fisting in your hair in frustration. As you sat there, fighting the tears dwelling in your eyes,
you reminded yourself about what happened when you tried to get away yesterday. You could still
feel his breath down your neck and dreaded the reality of your situation.

Even if you made it out of this room, how would you find your way out of the factory on your
own? You couldn’t see it the day before and once Heisenberg caught on to you, it wouldn’t take
him long to find and capture you again. If you ever made it outside, there was still the tall, barbed
fence to overcome and if you made it that far, the Lycans would surely find and kill you before
Heisenberg even had a chance to come to get you back.

Once more you asked yourself if going with Lady Dimitrescu or Donna would’ve been the lesser of
that evil, but you got the feeling that no matter who you went with, the situation would be the same.

Your pity party got interrupted when heavy boots walked towards the room. You heard the door
creak open, the footsteps coming to a halt.

“Y/N? Are you hiding from me?” Heisenberg's voice called out.

Nope, not going to agitate him already. “I-I’m in the bathroom!”

You shot to your feet, ignoring the throbbing pain in your chest, and opened the door, rushing back
into the main room. Heisenberg watched you suspiciously, you acted even stranger than the day
before.

Evidently deciding not to push the matter, he stalked towards the kitchenette, dropping a bag on the
counter.

“Went to the Duke and got some food for you. I don’t really eat much, so I didn’t have anything for
you here.”

You walked to his side, looking into the bag. Some bread, eggs and a little bit of meat. “Who’s the
Duke? Like, is he an actual Duke or did his parents name him weird?”

Heisenberg let out a genuine laugh at that. “I don’t know if he has another name besides that. He’s a
merchant with…let’s call it special abilities. Whatever you need, he’ll make sure to get it for you
for the right price.”

“And where is his shop? I didn’t see any shops in the village.”

He gave you a look. “It’s not like you’d ever get to go there. But he has a carriage, travelling
around the village. Sometimes, he even opens his shop inside castle Dimitrescu, or at Moreau's
place. Hell, sometimes even in my factory.”

He made it sound like he never planned on letting you see the light of day again, teasing you with
the knowledge of this merchants whereabouts, knowing he wouldn’t let you see him.
“Enough talking. Eat.” He commanded, not letting you dwell on that thought.

You eyed the food warily. Aside from the fact that you didn’t have an appetite, you also wouldn’t
put it past Heisenberg to try and drug you.

As if reading your mind, he made a clear statement.

“I’m going to tell you this only once. Anything I want you to do, will happen. You can either make
both of our lives easier and comply, or you piss me off and I’ll just force you to do it. It’s your
choice, sweetheart.”

You knew he meant it. You really were his damn puppet. Simply nodding, you took the two pieces
of bread and started eating.

“Right choice.” He muttered, turning on his heal and heading to one of his many workbenches,
looking over some notes.

You leaned against the wall and watched him, silently munching on the bread until both pieces had
gone. Rummaging through some cupboards, you find a mug that seemed clean and filled it with
water, gulping it down afterwards. At least you didn’t have to worry about starving or thirst.

When you finished up, Heisenberg looked up from his notes for a moment, nodding towards the
bathroom. “Go take a shower, you’re filthy.”

The comment offended you, Heisenberg looked like a homeless man for crying out loud! You
scoffed at him. “Yeah, I’m the filthy one.”

He glared at you, using his powers to drag you towards him in a flash. He turned you so your back
was against the workbench he was standing at, leaning over you to cage you in. He looked down at
you over the rim of his glasses, his face close enough for you to feel his breath on your cheeks.

“I could always join you in the shower, if that’s what you prefer.”

Heat overtook your whole face, burning you up from the inside as you hesitantly shook your head.
This right here was way more intimate than sharing a damn bed. You gulped when he let up,
straightening his back and crossing his arms over his chest. You got the message and crept towards
the bathroom, afraid that if you moved any faster it could provoke him further.

You closed the door behind you, releasing a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in. Damn,
he scared you.

You looked around, reaching for the cabinet next to the sink to find towels. They looked
surprisingly clean. You took off your clothes and stepped into the shower, turning the water on. The
water hit your back and you let out a deep sigh, relaxing, if only a little bit. There was a lonely bar
of soap, nothing else. Did Heisenberg not use shampoo?

When you felt clean and mustered up the courage, you left the shower. You dried yourself, your wet
hair clinging to your skin. You looked down at your clothes. They were torn and bloody, dirty
beyond repair. You didn’t want to put them on again, now that you were clean. That could only
leave you one option.
You tucked the towel tight around your body as you opened the door, looking over at Heisenberg.
He raised his head when he heard the door open, surprise clearly visible on his face when you stood
in the doorway with only a towel to protect your modesty.

“Could…you maybe give me something clean to wear?”

The request caught him off guard and he sucked in a breath as he turned around, walking to the
wardrobe in the corner that only had one door left. He stood there for a while and you shifted your
weight from one foot to the other as you got suspended in awkward silence.

After what felt like ages, he grabbed one of his shirts, some shorts and lose pants. He hadn’t worn
any of these in quite some time, so he guessed that was as clean as it could get. He handed them to
you and the awkwardness only intensified.

“Thanks.” You mumbled, shutting the door when you were back inside the bathroom again.

You put on the clothes without another thought. Anything was better than your old ones. The shorts
and pants had strings to tighten them with, which made it easier for your smaller form to wear them
without them falling right off again. The shirt was long enough for you to almost wear it as a dress.

It all looked way too baggy on you but as long as it was clean and covered you up, you honestly
couldn’t give a damn anymore.

You stepped out of the bathroom once again, hair damp and a mess and Heisenberg watched you
with interest. It was a strange look on his face, almost like hunger. You thought back to the look in
Lady Dimitrescu's eyes, it wasn’t the same sort of hunger you saw on Heisenberg right now. It was
wiped from his face in another flash, gone without a trace.

“Not a bad look on you, though you could have done something with the hair…I’ll give it a 6/10.”

You tried to glare at him, but the corners of your mouth fought to quirk up into a grin. “Well, I
couldn’t find a hairbrush in there and by the looks of it, your hair hasn’t seen it in quite some time
either.”

Rolling his eyes at you, he flicked his wrist and a metal comb floated towards you, sinking into
your open hand. This was by far the most gentle way you saw Heisenberg use his powers this far.
You sat down on the bed and started detangling your hair, pretending not to notice the many
glances he gave you. Whatever happened in the last half an hour changed something between the
two of you and you weren’t sure if it was a good thing.

When you felt ready, you laid the comb down next to you on the bed, looking at Heisenberg and
waiting for whatever he wanted to have you do next. It didn’t take long for him to take the hint.

“Alright, since you’re finally done with your beauty routine, I need you to follow me.”

He turned towards the door and you rolled your eyes, fighting the urge to tell him off because he
wanted you to get clean. God, he was annoying.

Silently, you followed him out the room, trying not to lose him in the dark hallway, staying close.
He led you up and downstairs, through curvy hallways and across catwalks until you arrived at the
destination. The journey only made it more obvious that you could never find your way out of the
factory on your own.
The room looked like most of the factory; Grimm and dirty. But the equipment, the anatomy books
and X-Rays scattered about gave you the clue to this mystery. It was a medical room.

“Sit.” Heisenberg pointed at the examination bed in the middle of the room, and you complied, if
only slowly. Something didn’t sit right with you being in here with him.

Heisenberg opened some drawers until he found some medical gloves, pulling them on as he turned
to you. “Take off the shirt.”

You stared at him blankly, mouth slightly agape. Fuck. THAT.

Before you could turn him down, he reminded you. “Think about our conversation earlier. I need to
look over your healing process and it’s either going to happen willingly or with force.”

The metal on your limps started the shake, driving his threat deeper into your head. He didn’t give
you a choice. That realization finally broke you down, tears rolling down your cheeks as you
grabbed the hem of the shirt, shakingly pulling it over your head and off your body.

You forced your hands to stay at your side, fighting your own self who wished to cover up. You
didn’t open your eyes, didn’t have the willpower to even look at the man standing before you.

The room fell quiet, safe for your sobs that you tried to push down with no luck. You contemplated
about opening your eyes to see if Heisenberg was even there still when he himself spoke.

“You’re making this so fucking hard…Just - Just pretend that this is a check-up at your doctor’s
office, a regular, boring day. Can you do that for me?”

He sounded pained, sympathetic even. You didn’t want to read too much into it, so you just nodded
and tried your best not to flinch away from his touch as he examined the Cadou scar on your chest.
You tried answering his questions as you hiccupped through your words. You tried not wailing in
pain when he rubbed something over the scar. You tried to ignore the warmth you felt when he
began humming a tune to calm you down.

You tried. You tried.

 Watch Out
Chapter Notes

Thank you all so much for your kind words and Kudos! I'm happy to know so many enjoy this
story so far!

TW: Knifes and a little gore.

In the next few days, Heisenberg and you fell into a sort of rhythm.

Wake up, get ready, eat and drink, then be led down into the medical room once more. The rest of
your day, you would be locked in Heisenberg's room, wondering if you could die from boredom
and if that was a nice way to go or not. During the night you slept in his bed, sometimes alone and
sometimes with him next to you. It started to bother you less.

The daily medical examination didn’t get any easier on your mind. Most of the Cadou-Pain had
somewhat faded and you knew Heisenberg was trying to make you as comfortable as he could,
even if he denied ever doing so. But you were still fighting the tears rolling down your cheeks.

It didn’t help that you noticed the man's ever-growing frustration, though you couldn’t figure out at
what. Was he getting tired of your tears? Was he annoyed to be stuck with you? Did your healing
process not go as it should?

Today, his anger was prominent on his features as he stared at your chest, glaring at the scar like it
was supposed to do something. You needed to know what was going on or you’d lose your mind.

“Is something wrong?”

His eyes, hidden behind his glasses, snapped up to yours, a growl pushing through his clenched
teeth. Oh no.

“Oh, I don’t know! Is something wrong Y/N?!”

You flinched back when he raised his voice, not expecting him to explode in your face like that.

“I-I don’t-“ You couldn’t even finish whatever you were going to say as one big hand grasped
around your neck and started squeezing it, making you choke.

“Shut up!” He yelled once more, using his inhuman strength to lift your whole body by your throat.

In desperation you clawed at his wrist that held you up, hoping to get him to let you go. He did, by
throwing you against the nearest wall. The little air you still had left your lungs from the impact,
making you dizzy when you fell to the floor with a thud.

Heisenberg approached your shaking form on the floor with steady steps, watching you try to make
yourself small by hugging your knees to the chest.
Despite your fear, anger rose up inside you as well, pushing through your better judgement that
wanted you to stay silent, try not to agitate him further.

“What…What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Heisenberg stayed silent, staring down at you with an unreadable expression, which only made you
angrier. You pushed yourself up on your shaking legs, ignoring the fact that you’re still naked from
the waist up. You had enough of being his ragdoll.

“I haven’t done anything! I asked what’s wrong because you never tell me shit! You only get angry
and throw me around at your will! I fucking hate you!”

You had taken a step towards him, only for the metal around your wrists to pull you back against
the wall, securing you to it. In wailing frustration, you tried to kick at him, which only made him
secure your legs as well. With you immobilized, the fight left your body as you were once again at
Heisenberg's mercy, which he didn’t seem to have much, if any.

Both of you stayed quiet for a moment, staring into the other's eyes, neither of you daring to look
away. Until finally, Heisenberg spoke.

“It’s been almost a damn week since the Cadou was implanted into your body. It should have
changed you in some kind of way, yet you stand here with no apparent powers…Since that had
never happened before, I can only assume that you have powers, but hide them from me.”

You let out a scoff. “And instead of asking me, you decide to throw me against a wall?!”

“Well answer me then!” He roared right back.

“Let me get fucking dressed first.” You countered simply.

You could tell he was unhinged and was fighting against his rage that wanted to rip you apart, but
you continued to glare at him until he flared his arms around and turned away with a frustrated
scream, your arms and legs getting freed.

Cautiously, you moved around him to grab your (or rather his) shirt, putting it on without another
word. The tension in the air was thick enough to be sliced with one of his blades. Both of you
needed a moment to calm down before Heisenberg repeated his question.

“Now…Do you have any powers?”

You sucked in a breath, steadying yourself for whatever he’ll do to you once you answer.

“Not that I know of.”

Two beats passed.

“Bull. Shit!”

You knew this was coming. Of course he wouldn’t believe you, how could he? More importantly,
how could you convince him that you’re saying the truth?

“Don’t you think that if I had powers, I would’ve tried to use them against you by now?”
You had your back to him and you felt his eyes bore into your very soul as he approached you,
grabbing your arm and, more gently than before, turned you around to face him. He took off his
glasses and for the first time, you could see his eyes perfectly clear.

A haunting green and blue mix, a beautiful and unique colour. If it wasn’t for the situation you
found yourself in, you might even have told him so.

He was looking straight into yours, leaning in closer as if he was searching for something, probably
hoping the word “Liar” was etched into your pupils. This close, you could smell the scent that was
explicitly Heisenberg; Metal and motor oil, tinged with a slight sheen of sweat. It shouldn’t be as
intoxicating as it is.

You didn’t know what he saw just then, but he backed off in one swift movement as if burned. You
let out a relieved sigh, leaning back against the examination table for stability.

“Alright.” He sighed himself, rubbing both hands up and down his face before putting his glasses
back on. “Let’s say I believe you…The Cadou had to have done something to you. Everyone that
got infected had changes, it’s impossible for yours to just sleep, especially since you were infected
by Miranda herself, the strongest of all sources.”

You cringed at the thought, your stomach fluttering uncomfortably as if it wanted to throw up. You
willed it to behave.

“So what now?”

He turned back to look at you, gears in his head turning and turning until something seemed to
click into place. The devilish grin that spread over his face didn’t calm your nerves at all. It didn’t
help that next he held out his hand for one of the many blades he had laying around to come flying
to him.

He approached you like a predator, ready to pounce on his prey. “While the Cadou is unpredictable
in what powers or mutation you get, one thing we all have in common.”

Before you could react, he snatched your wrist and yanked your arm towards him, holding the knife
steady in his other hand. You stared at him as he brought the knife down to your skin, pressing but
not yet slicing.

“Extraordinary healing abilities.”

With that, he sliced a deep cut into your arm. Blood flowed immediately and a burning pain rushed
through your whole body, making you gasp. You tried to pull your arm back with a cry, but
Heisenberg held a firm grip, watching the cut closely. As the pain started to fade, you forced
yourself to look at the wound, holding your breath in your chest as you watched in slight horror as
your skin started to pull itself together, cells regenerating, flesh mending back together. In the end,
only a pale scar was left.

Both of you released a relieved sigh, though it seemed for different reasons.

Yours was because it meant that Heisenberg got what he wanted and would now calm down. Why
Heisenberg was so relieved? Not quite sure.

“Well, seems like the Cadou isn’t sleeping.”

You glared at him. “You could have warned me, you know!”

He chuckled darkly and let go of your hand, reaching into a shelf to take a dirty rag into his now
free hand, bringing it up to clean the blade, still glistering red with your blood. “It wouldn’t have
been half as fun though.”

You rolled your eyes at him, inspecting your new scar with mixed feelings. On one side, it
confirmed what you feared most; You weren’t entirely human anymore. The Cadou had changed
you and would continue to change you.

On the other side though, a deep cut healed itself in the span of about ten seconds. It made you feel
invincible and strong. It also filled you with a little bit of smugness because it meant something
might hurt you but killing you could be impossible.

When Heisenberg finished the cleanup job, you pinned him down with a pointed look. He raised his
eyebrows at that.

“The fuck are you looking at me like that?”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “Aren’t you going to apologize?”

“Don’t fucking try me, sweetheart.” He snarled in response, but something told you he was slightly
impressed with your boldness about it.

As if on a whim, his mood changed, his body more relaxed. It made you suspicious to say the least.
The door opened with a loud crash and you covered your ears from the horrible sound of it. He just
waved his hand, motioning for you to follow him.

Not wanting him to use his powers against you again, you complied and walked after him. You
expected him to bring you back to his room, because that’s how it has always been like. But even if
you didn’t have any kind of orientation around this place, you could tell you were walking a
different way. Once you realised this, you hurried closer to him and even in the complete darkness
you could tell he had a satisfied smirk on his lips. Arrogant prick.

At some point, you made it to an elevator. At first, you thought it was the same one he used when
he brought you in the first time, but the markings on it were different. This part of the factory was
completely new to you, making fear creep up your back. What did he want to do to you now?

The elevator door opened and a soothing tune rang out of it, almost invitingly. Heisenberg pulled
you into the elevator and your eyes immediately went to the large man sitting there with various
goods surrounding him.

“Ah! Lord Heisenberg, good to see you return. And who is that new face I see with you?” The man
greeted Heisenberg, looking you over. His smile was bright and kind.

Your view got obstructed by Heisenberg, who took a stand between you and the other man. “None
of your business Duke.”

Duke? The merchant he had told you about? Heisenberg did mention that he sometimes opened his
shop in the factory.
The Duke laughed wholeheartedly, clasping his hands together. “Ahh, I see. Not in the mood for a
talk today, my Lord?”

“Am I ever?” Heisenberg murmured, turning to his side to press the bottom for the floor they
needed to get to.

You used that moment to walk around him and approached the Duke with a smile. “I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N?” Heisenberg groaned behind you, a warning. You ignored him.

The Duke held out his hand to you and you grabbed it, shaking it. It only made Heisenberg more
pissed as you clearly ignored his warning. But you didn’t care. For the first time in what seemed
like ages, you saw a kind smile and you weren’t going to waste that opportunity.

“Y/N, what a beautiful name! Call me The Duke, I am but a humble merchant, ready with all the
goods of your desire.”

Heisenberg lit a cigar and leaned against the wall, apparently not trying to intervene anymore as the
elevator started to descend.

“She doesn’t have any money, Duke. Don’t even try.”

The Duke didn’t look at him, just held your steady gaze. “And what brings you into the company of
one of our Lords?”

That had Heisenberg pushing off the wall, stomping over and pulling you back. Smoke puffed out
as he began to speak. “None of your damn business you noisy bastard!”

“Don’t need to be so rude about it.” You said, the words leaving your lips before you could think
about it.

“Shut it!” He was losing his nerves, the whole elevator beginning to shake. While you began to
worry, the Duke didn’t seem the least bit concerned. You got the feeling he was more than just a
simple merchant.

He pointed at the two of you. “You two don’t get to talk, you hear me?!”

He grabbed your arm and pulled you away from him. The door opened and Heisenberg pulled you
with him, you had just enough time to wave a sad goodbye to the merchant before he disappeared
from your view.

You managed to shake his hand away, relieving yourself of his bruising grip. “Don’t you think that
was a little bit over the top? It was nice talking with someone who didn’t get mad at me for once.”

He turned sharply, making you bump against his chest. “I swear to fucking God, I’m about to lose it
with you!”

“You with me?!” You countered in disbelieve. “All I want is for you to just talk with me for once!
Like a normal person…Can you blame me for that?”

You had a headache, his short temper has gotten you to the point in which you didn’t even care
anymore. No matter what you did, he would yell at you, push you around and you fucking had it
with him.
He was about to retort with something, but a huge crash behind you stopped the both of you. You
heard the sound of a drill and before you had a chance to turn around and see what is going on,
Heisenberg had pulled you against his chest, holding your head with your face pressed against his
shirt with one hand, as if he didn’t want you to see what was happening.

You felt his free hand move, catching something mid-strike with enough force for you to feel it
shaking through his body. He didn’t even flinch, pushing whatever it was back with enough force to
make it stumble and fall, judging by the sound of a loud thud against the floor.

“You fucking idiot! How dare you attack your Master!”

You managed to turn your head slightly, not sure if you really wanted to see what had attacked the
two of you. When you laid eyes upon a moving assembly of metal and flesh, you knew you
shouldn’t have looked.

You shirked as you watched it stand up once more. It looked like a walking corpse, metal plastered
everywhere, as if it was holding the whole thing together. Most horrifying was the huge drill that
replaced the left arm of the creature. The red glowing light in its chest only made the panic settle in
more. Around its head, covering its eyes, was another piece of metal.

It raised its drill once more, readying itself for another attack but stopped dead in its tracks. You
tried to find the reason for it through your blurry vision, tears of fear wanting to roll down your
cheek. And then you saw Heisenberg's outstretched arm, his fingers flexing slightly. The metal
around its head began to bend and squish the head.

“Look away, Y/N.”

You listened to Heisenberg, pressing your face back against his chest until you heard a deafening
crunch, followed by a horrible squelch and then a flop as the body dropped down onto the floor, not
moving anymore.

For a few seconds, everything was quiet, safe for the everlasting sound of the factory itself. You
didn’t dare to move even an inch and when Heisenberg tried to move away, you grabbed onto his
coat with a whimper.

“P-Please don’t let…me go.”

He went still as a statue, seemingly contemplating his next move. When he moved away once
more, you let him go with a soft sob. Of course he wouldn’t care. He dropped his cigar and
stomped it out on the floor.

In the next second, you were swept off your feet and Heisenberg carried you in his arms, just like
he had done when he had brought you into the factory. But this time, he was gentle and careful.
You leaned against him gratefully, your hiccupped sobs the only thing being heard until he started
to walk

It didn’t take a genius to realize that this man did not have any experience with comforting
someone and you could tell it made him a bit uneasy. You didn’t care, because you knew he did the
best he could.

“Sh-Sh-Sh” He shushed you softly, holding you closer. “You’re…safe. I’ve got you.”
You nodded and breathed deeply in and slowly out a few times until you could stop your sobs and
only sniffled. You finally opened your eyes when you heard a door open, a careful move as if not to
startle you.

The room he carried you into was furnished with various workbenches, different stations for
different kind of metalwork. The walls covered in all kinds of tools, a dirty rag hanging above one
table, covering whatever was on the wall behind it up.

“This is my workstation.” He explained, his voice quiet and smooth. “I eh…wanted to show it to
you. The moods kinda down now though, huh?” He tried teasing you.

You tried to laugh at his attempt to cheer you up, you really did, but it came out as a strangled sob
instead. He turned around and walked over to a chair, sitting down and situating you to sit sideways
on his lap. You didn’t mind at all, still leaning your head against his chest, though because of the
new angle, your head was right underneath his chin.

You dreaded asking but you just needed to know. “What was that…thing?”

He obviously knew this question was coming. “It’s…It’s one of my creations.”

You raised your head a little, looking up at him. “You made that? Why?”

“That’s not something we can talk about.” He said, a little stern to make this point clear. “Just know
that that fucker wasn’t supposed to be on this floor, let alone try and attack me…or you, since
you’re with me.”

It wasn’t all that reassuring, but you gave a slight nod nonetheless. “Are there more of these things
around? Do I have to watch out?”

He hummed thoughtfully, mulling over what to answer you. “There are a few more, yes. But as
long as you’re with me, they won’t even scratch you.”

A few more? That could mean anything. You added that to the list of things that hinder you from
escaping this place. Though the thought was pushed away to the farthest region of your brain for
now. You sighed and let the rest of the tension leave your muscles.

“So why did you want to show me your workstation?”

 Village Of Shadows

Heisenberg adjusted his hold on you, straightening his back a little more but not letting you go.
“Earlier, you said I don’t tell you shit…So I wanted to tell you a little story.”

He looked down at you to see your reaction. It was to reach up and slowly push his hat off, letting it
drop to the floor with a soft thud. He held still when you reached for his glasses, closing his eyes
with furrowed brows as you pulled them off. You wanted to see him. Really see him.

“I’m all ears.”

You thought he might not have heard you, as he didn’t react at all for a few long moments and you
were about to repeat yourself when he cut you off by starting the story.

“There once was a little girl. She and her mother were trying to find berries to bring home for her
father, who was hard at work.”

He paused and swallowed, as if he was trying to push some kind of emotion away, back deep down
into the depths of his soul from where it came from. You remained silent.

“Finding none, the little one ran off, deeper into the dark forest for her search, not listening to her
mothers cries for her to come back. She was going for so long, her throat began to ache with how
thirsty she was.”

“The Bat Lord appeared before her and bit his own wing, a drop of his golden blood flowing down
and into the girl's hands. He told her ‘Drink child, quench your thirst’. So the little girl did and
smiled with joy.”

A faint smile came to your lips as you listened to his voice.

“She went off again, deeper and deeper into the darkness. Thunder roared and rain crashed down,
the poor girl shivering in the cold. A Weaver appeared just then, offering her a golden dress made
from his own yarn. He told her ‘Come child, warm yourself’ and the little girl smiled with joy.”

“She managed to get to the open water and as she sat in her boat, crossing the big lake, hunger
began to torment her. The Fish King rose his head out of the water, giving her one of his many
golden fins, saying ‘Come child, eat your fill’. And of course, the little girl did and smiled with joy
once more.”

A long pause followed. You looked up at Heisenberg, but he was staring at the far wall, as if deep
in thoughts. You wanted to know what he was thinking about. Even with his face uncovered, his
emotions were hard to read.

He took a deep, slightly shaking breath and continued.

“When she entered the forests dark heart, she was met with an Iron Steed, wearing a golden gear on
its head.”

You remembered the Crest on Heisenberg's door to his room, points connecting inside your mind.
“It said nothing as the girl approached. She reached up and took the golden gear without another
thought, assuming it was another gift. But it wasn’t.”

“The Iron Steed seethed with anger and summoned the other monsters to its side. The very same
monsters that once helped the little girl were now closing in on her. A dark mist got stirred around
them with harsh wind and when it let up again, the girl was faced with an evil Witch.”

He paused again, even longer this time. Something weighed heavily in the air surrounding you two.
Hesitantly, you laid your hand over his that he had on your knee, just a little bit of offered comfort.
It worked.

“’Gifts we gave, but more you took, so more, in turn, is due’ the Witch snarled and within the blink
of an eye, the little girl was trapped inside a mirror, never to be heard from again.”

With that, he looked down at your face, wanting to hear your thoughts on this story.

“No happy ending?” You asked because this story was depressing if anything.

He shook his head with a sigh. “That’s the cruelty of this world, sweetheart. There are no happy
endings.”

With care, he beckoned you to get up from his lap. You missed his warmth immediately but stayed
silent as he walked over to the rag covering the wall. He ripped it down with more force than
necessary and showed you the four pictures it was hiding; Lady Dimitrescu, Donna and Moreau
and in the centre of it all was Mother Miranda.

A knife flew into his hand and he used it to throw it at the picture of Lady Dimitrescu, hitting her
straight in the forehead. “The Bat Lord.”

The knife flew back into his hands, only to be thrown at Donnas picture. “The Weaver.”

The Knife repeated the notion, this time landing on Moreau. “The Fish King.”

When next the knife flew through the air, it struck the picture from Mother Miranda with so much
force that it got embedded into the wall behind it until only the handle of it was still visible. “And
the Evil Witch.”

His arm swung down to his side, as if he had lost the willpower to keep it up any longer. You
approached him slowly.

“And you’re the Iron Steed.”

It wasn’t a question, because he had basically written it out for you. He said nothing, just staring at
the picture of Mother Miranda. Once you stood beside him, you gently touched his arm, snapping
him out of his thoughts. Whatever he was feeling before got washed away, replaced by his
showman style. It wasn’t as deceiving now.

“Mother Miranda is the priestess of this village, the people here worship her like a damn Goddess.
Isn’t that pathetic?”

He was giggling like a child, as if any of this was just a funny joke. You said nothing.
“We four Lords serve under her, each of us controlling a region…Her fucking children, she calls us,
tells us that we’re all a happy fucking family. But fuck that, fuck my so-called siblings and fuck that
bitch Miranda especially!”

There was the rage you were so used to by now. But this time, it wasn’t scary at all. Maybe because
the rage wasn’t directed at you for once, or maybe because you just saw a side of him that you got
the feeling no one else got to see. A vulnerable side.

His breathing got ragged, and he leaned forwards to prop himself up against the table. “We’re her
little monsters.”

You remembered the face he made when you called yourself a monster and it slowly began to make
sense.

“You want to know why I got so fucking angry at you earlier?” He suddenly turned more towards
you and your body flinched, because it was used to his behaviour pattern by now. You nodded your
head to answer his question.

He pointed at Miranda's picture. “Because that bitch wants to know how her newest creation is
doing! And if I tell her that the Cadou failed and that you didn’t get any sort of power from it, she’ll
be fucking pissed! Might want to look into what the fuck I’ve been doing to see if I’d tried to screw
her over!”

His chest was heaving with how worked up he’s getting and the metal around you began to creak
and vibrate, the impending outburst clear. He needed to calm down, so you did the only thing that
came to your mind. You bridged the gap between you two and before he could question your
intentions, you hugged him.

The effect was instant. Everything already floating in the air dropped, his whole body coming to a
halt. He held his arms above you to his side, not knowing how to process any of this. It didn’t
matter, you just held on tighter.

After about a minute, you slowly retrieved, giving him space again and looking at his face. It was
evident that he was overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions, letting himself drop down into a chair
that he just about managed to drag towards him. His elbows went to his knees as he leaned forward,
cradling his head in his hands, trying to gather himself.

You broke the silence with the most burning question on your tongue. “Why is Miranda doing all of
this?”

Heisenberg straightened up again, sucking in a breath as if remembering where he was, releasing it

with a sigh.

“She used to have a kid. An actual child of her own, called Eva. She died because of the Spanish
flu, or something like that. Ever since then, she is wandering around the world, trying to find a way
to bring her daughter back from the dead. If it wasn’t for the fucked up shit she’s doing to achieve
that goal, I might even have sympathy for her.”

“Then what does she need us for?” You prompted further.

He tensed up again, ready for another outburst, but as if catching himself, he forced his body to stay
calm. “She needs a vessel that Eva can inhabit. She uses the Cadou to find one but has been
unsuccessful thus far. For one reason or another, everyone so far was unfit for the job. The only
reason she keeps us Lords around is because we're beneficial for her, we have use for her plan.”

“So…” You started pacing around the room, trying to connect everything. “You’re all experiments
of Miranda, all unfit for her plan to get her daughter back…Why would anyone support that?”

That last comment made Heisenberg chuckle softly. “Been asking that for years, sweetheart.”

Years. How long had the Lords been under Mother Miranda's thumb? You began to understand
Heisenberg's all-consuming rage, though you obviously didn’t appreciate the fact that he lets it out
on you instead of the woman he hates.

“Why don’t you leave this place? It’s clear that you hate her, so why stay?”

He rolled his eyes at you. “Don’t you think I would’ve tried that already? Mother Miranda is too
strong, she doesn’t let anybody leave this place.”

That was the final nail in the coffin for your escape attempts. Even if, by some sort of miracle, you
managed to escape Heisenberg, Mother Miranda would never let you go further. The cage you
found yourself in may be bigger, but it’s a cage nonetheless.

Damn it all.

Heisenberg got up from the chair. “Enough for today…Now you can’t say I don’t tell you shit
anymore.”

The teasing Heisenberg was back, the façade overturning everything he allowed you to see of him.
He was tired and done. So were you, if you were being honest.

You followed him silently as he led you through the factory once more, Heisenberg's dead creation
no longer lying on the ground. Hopefully the body just got dragged away and it didn’t somehow
survive its head exploding. But after everything you’ve seen and heard, it wouldn’t surprise you if
it did.

Heisenberg lit a new cigar, the smoke encasing the both of you as you waited for the elevator to
come to your floor. The Duke had left the factory, the elevator now empty and no soothing music
accompanied the ride.

When at last you arrived back at Heisenberg's room, both of you let out a long sigh. What an
eventful day.

“I’ll go take a shower.” You informed him, eyeing him warily as he sat down and called his
hammer to his side. “May I take a new shirt out of the closet?”

He stayed silent, nodding his head towards the closet. You went over and picked out another one of
his shirts and shorts, then turning to go to the bathroom. Heisenberg didn’t look at you, nor said a
word. He was looking over the head of his hammer, gloved fingers tracing its edges. It seemed to
comfort him, even if it was still stained with blood from whoever was unfortunate enough to get in
his way.

You went into the bathroom, undressed and stepped into the shower. The water washed away
everything that this day had brought down on you. It was intense, to say the least. Once clean and
dry, you put on the new shirt and the shorts, combing your damp hair with the comb he gave you.

You stepped out of the bathroom. The main room was cold in contrast to the steamy bathroom and
you had half a mind to go back inside, but Heisenberg pushed past you and into the bathroom
himself, closing the door in your face. So much for that warmth.

You wanted to just go lay down in the bed but noticed a plate in the table Heisenberg had sat at. In
closer inspection, you saw that Heisenberg had actually prepared food for you. As if on cue, your
stomach growled.

It wasn’t much, just a simple sandwich and some apple slices. You were surprised he had any fruit
at all laying around. Yet you felt a dangerous wave of affection rolling over your body, directed at
the man currently inside the shower. Nope, not going to think about that.

You ate the food and took the plate to the kitchenette, cleaning it and putting it on the dry rack.
Clean and with a full belly, you climbed onto Heisenberg's bed, ready to just about pass out. You
heard the shower inside the bathroom getting quieter until it fully stopped. About one minute later,
Heisenberg stepped back into the room with only a towel around his waist.

Your face felt like it’s burning up as you watched him walk over to his closet, using the remaining
door to shield him from your view as he dropped the towel, looking for something to wear to bed.
He was either trying to unsettle you, fluster you or just tease and ironically, he made you feel all of
those things.

At last, he pulled on a shirt and some shorts, leaving the towel on the dirty floor, not caring. You
desperately hoped that the dim lighting worked in your favour for once, not making it too obvious
to him about how you felt.

He dropped like a dead weight next to you onto the mattress, making the whole bed bounce and
shake a little. Evidently, he too was ready to pass out.

Heisenberg laid on his stomach, face pressed into the pillow as if to suffocate himself, making you
slightly worried. You laid on your side, facing him, only this time to make sure the rising of his
chest didn’t let up. He turned his head towards you, with a tired grin.

“Staring again, I see.”

You scoffed, your voice teasing. “Only trying to make sure that some oxygen still made its way to
that damn head of yours.”

He chuckled lightly, turning on his side to face you as well. “You know, I had a question for you
ever since we made it to the factory.”

You gave a sly smile. “Then ask already, oh mighty Lord Heisenberg.”

His eyes fixed on yours. “Why did you choose me back at the church? And don’t you lie to me.”

“As if I dare.” You snicker, the mood too light to even be scared about answering him. “Well,
Donna and her doll we’re just outright creepy. And between a tall ass Lady with a hungry stare and
a homeless looking man with a hammer, the choice wasn’t easy.”
He grunted with distaste at your description of him (But deep down he knew it was accurate.)
“Then why me?”

You looked over to where his hammer was resting against a shelf, he followed your gaze. “I
thought that thing would slow you down enough for me to make a run for it.”

Your eyes met once more, and you smirked. “Didn’t really work out though, did it?”

Both of you started to laugh at that, breaths mingling together as the space between you got
slimmer, none of you noticing your bodies moving closer.

“Do you know what the other two would’ve done if I went with them?” You asked curiously when
the laughter died down.

Heisenberg pouted and mocked you. “Aww, does the captive want to know what other fate could’ve
awaited her?”

It enticed another round of laughing.

“By my guess,” Heisenberg said, “Lady super-sized would have given you a lovely little room,
maybe have her daughters take a couple of bites out of you, if anything. She’s got it in her head that
she has to be Miranda's favourite, so she wouldn’t dare to damage you too much in case it could
anger her.”

“And Donna?” You asked further.

He pondered over that one a little longer. “She might have just had you sit through an endless tea
party with her and her dolls. Creepy sure, but not harmful.”

Both those things didn’t sound even half as bad as what the last few days with Heisenberg had been
like. “Wait, does that mean I-“

He cut you off. “Chose the most dangerous out of all four Lords? Oh yes you did, sweety.”

“Just my fucking luck.” You muttered under your breath, you knew there was a reason Miranda had
to remind Heisenberg not to kill you.

“Now shut up and go to sleep.” Heisenberg said before turning over and away from you.

You copied him, smiling to yourself despite the information he just gave you.

Don’t seem so dangerous now, you thought to yourself.

 Meet The Lords (Again) 1
Chapter Notes

Thank you all so much for all the comments and Kudos!
My holidays are over, so I'm starting to work again. But I've written a few chapters ahead, so
daily updates should be continued :D

Since that day about a week had passed.

It had changed things; Heisenberg tried his best not to yell at you as much, you started cleaning the
living space and doing chores so the days aren’t as boring anymore. And occasionally Heisenberg
would allow you to come to his workstation, letting you watch him work.

It was very fascinating to say the least. You didn’t know what he’s working on and he refused to go
into any details, but you enjoyed watching him grab random things out of the air as it floats by.
Enjoyed the concentration on his face, the way he tinkered away as if he had forgotten the rest of
the world. The way he would sometimes glance at you with a small smile, as if enjoying your
company.

Today however was something else. He had approached you when you had finished eating
breakfast.

“Listen, I’ve got a few errands to run, need to visit the other Lords. Will you come with me?”

The idea of leaving this dark and musky factory for once filled your heart with content, happily
bouncing around the room, thanking him over and over again.

“Yeah, Yeah.” He waved away your excitement with a smirk. “Can’t let you get into trouble while
I’m gone.”

You both knew that wasn’t the truth, at least not the whole truth. He was enjoying you by his side
more than he wanted to admit.

He helped you get ready, making sure you’re packed tight so you wouldn’t be cold once you got
outside. When he guided you through the factory once more, you couldn’t help bouncing on your
feet, pretending not to notice Heisenberg's content smile when he watched you.

When you’re at the top, he used his powers to open the large doors, letting sunlight creep into his
dark home and bathing you in the warmth of it. You ran outside to meet it, only for the metal
around your wrist and ankles pulling you back.

You gave a small whine, pouting as Heisenberg forced you back to his side.

“What have we talked about, doll? You stay by my side, no running off to God knows where.”

You rolled your eyes at him. “It’s not like I could get far anyway.”
“Not my point.” He squinted against the sun, having gotten used to not wearing his sunglasses as
much inside. He placed them back on his face now, the familiar feeling of it making him sigh. “I
think I may have packed you up too much. Haven’t seen that much sunlight in a long ass time.”

You were already shrugging off a few layers, keeping the thick jacket, just in case.

“Alright, let’s go.” Heisenberg started walking, only to stop again, making you whine once more,
patience running thin.

“I almost forgot.” He simply said and held out his hand.

Loud crashes and bangs could be heard from within the factory walls as his hammer flew through
the air and into his waiting hand. He slung it over his shoulder as per usual.

“Show off.” You mumbled to yourself when he flashed you a shit-eating grin.

Finally, you set off. The sun was shining, making the remaining snow glister in its warm light. The
feeling of fresh wind moving against your skin and through your hair was amazing and it made you
sigh happily.

Not even the few Lycans you saw scattered along the way could deter your good mood.

“Where are we off to first?” You asked after a while, turning your head to look at Heisenberg.

He pulled the cigar he had lit earlier out of his mouth, puffing out the smoke. “Moreau first. Fish
freak is nearest and also the one I dread meeting most. So best put that behind us.”

You frowned at him. “Why are you so mean to him? I get that you don’t like him but he was the
nicest out of all of you to me.”

That made Heisenberg grimace. “Have you looked at him? Like, come on!”

“Don’t forget that I would’ve picked him if he had stayed there.” You huffed, turning into a startled
yelp when he pulled you back until you were flush against him.

Heisenberg looked down at you with a growl. “You’re getting a little mouthy just now. Maybe I
should drag you back to the factory instead.”

You weren’t sure if he meant it or not but were not willing to test him. You apologized in a haste,
adding a few too many “please”, it was almost pathetic. But it worked and he let you go on, that’s
all that counted.

“Soooo…” You started after a few quiet minutes of walking. “Can you tell me something about
Moreau? How did he end up here?”

Heisenberg hummed thoughtfully, crewing a little at the end of his cigar. “I don’t know how, but I
can tell you he’s Mirandas least favourite.”

“How come?” You asked. “Surely his looks aren’t everything about him. What are is powers like?”

“Well, they're fucking gross, just like the rest of him.” He shrugged, rolling his eyes when you gave
him a pointed look. “He can create slime walls, or something like it anyway, can block paths with it
and stuff. He also turns into a huge fish-thing, way too many eyes though.”
You weren’t sure if he was messing with you again, it all sounded way too weird, even for this
place. “And why is he Mirandas least favourite? I mean, I could see his powers being useful.”

“But that’s just the thing; He is useless, at least almost.” Heisenberg pulled on the cigar one last
time before dropping it to the ground to stomp it. “He can’t really control that fish transformation.
If you rile him up enough, he’ll just lose it and turn into that thing. Kind of hilarious to watch.”

Your frown only deepened and you stayed quiet. It didn’t sound like fun at all, no wonder Moreau
left the meeting when he did; His “family” thinks he’s a joke.

“Want to know the funniest thing about him?” Heisenberg asked, not even waiting for you to
answer him. “He’s blindly devoted to Mother Miranda nonetheless! He’s trying to get so far up her
ass that he’ll come out of her mouth, if only she’d let him.”

You turned sharply, causing him to use his hammer, putting it to the ground in front of him to stop
himself from bumping into you. Around you, clouds began to gather, dark and big.

“Stop running your damn mouth about him!” You sneered, the clouds behind you crackling with
lightning. “I don’t want to hear another word about it!”

Heisenberg looked from your angry face up to the clouds, then back again. Curious. He didn’t point
it out to you, wanting to see where this got.

“Alright, I’m sorry. I’ll behave, I promise.”

As your shoulders relaxed, the clouds disappeared, you being none the wiser about them. “Good.”

The two of you stayed silent the rest of the way over to the reservoir, the sun slowly coming back
out. Heisenberg watched the sky with interest.

When you arrived at the reservoir, you looked over the huge space. The water was murky and tinted
green-brown-ish. The windmills had taken on a slimy green colour from Moreau's mucus and moss.
You hated to admit it but this grossness fitted Moreau all too well.

Heisenberg let you through the control room and back outside he smacked his hammer against the
metal house, denting the wall and creating a sound that travelled far out. “Moreau!”

You looked at the dent and were about to demand Heisenberg fix it, as he did it himself. This
definitely wasn’t the first time he did this.

On top of the first windmill, a hunched figure came into view, waving. “Up here!”

You waved back at him as Heisenberg stomped towards the building. Moreau looked at you in clear
surprise, you were probably the first one to wave back at him. Heisenberg jerked at the metal on
your body, signalling you to follow up already.

You rushed inside the windmill and up the stairs, past Heisenberg that had made it halfway up
already.

“You’re not going to like the price of winning that race!” He called after you, his laugh loud
enough to hall around the whole mill.
At the top, Moreau greeted you excitedly. “A guest! Oh, if I had known my brother brought you
too, I would’ve cleaned up!”

“Don’t bother.” Heisenberg huffed when he made it up as well. “It’s going to look slimy soon after
anyway.”

Moreau's smile faded slightly at Heisenberg's comment and you turned around to glare at him. All
the man did was look behind you and out the window, watching clouds gathering but not doing
more.

“Apologize.”

Moreau looked between the two of you, surprised that someone tried to stand up for him of all
people.

Heisenberg raised an eyebrow at you, challenging. “Or what?”

A storm began to gather outside, wind hauling against the rotten wood. It made Moreau flinch a
little at your side. You leaned in, close enough to be out of earshot from Moreau.

“Or I’ll tell him about the time you cuddled up to me in your sleep.”

Heisenberg felt the tips of his ears heating up and was glad that his hat was hiding it. Nope, big bad
guy Heisenberg could not have that going around town.

He turned to Moreau, who watched closely to see who would win this little fight.

“Moreau, I’m sorry.” He snarled it, because this was ridiculous.

The tension snapped, the weather outside calming down. Moreau grinned up at you with a thankful
smile and Heisenberg hated every second of it.

“Could we please move on now?!” He snapped, just to get back into his mean-guy mood. “You got
the blueprints I’ve lent you?”

“Of course, brother!” Moreau turned around just in time to not see the grimace on Heisenberg's
face. “I have them right here.”

He waddled over to a chest on the side, pulling the prints out and handing them over. The other
man grabbed them and turned to walk off again, huffing a “thank you” in his direction.

You knew Heisenberg would only give you so much time until he’d yank you to his side, so you
turned to Moreau with a smile. “If he lets me walk around the village at some point, I promise I’ll
come visit you.”

“Y/N! Get your ass over here! I don’t have all fucking day!” Heisenberg called up, the metal
shaking slightly as a warning.

With a small wave, you went after him, leaving Moreau standing there in disbelieve at your words.
You walked silently until Heisenberg was sure no one could see you before he slammed you against
the nearest object.
“Who do you think you’re messing with?” He practically spits out. “Don’t ever make me look
weak in front of one of them again, you hear me? You’re lucky it was only Moreau, otherwise I’d
have thrown you down into that water with car engines strapped to your feet.”

You realised your mistake; He had been so much nicer to you this past week when it was only the
two of you, that you forgot what he could do, what his family had to see him as.

You swallowed and nodded. “I’m sorry, Heisenberg. I forgot myself.”

“Damn right you did.” He said before releasing you, looking up at the sky when a few drops of rain
landed on the rim of his hat.

He looked back at you, the fear and sadness mixing the expressions on your face. He thought about
reaching out to comfort you but decided against it. His family couldn’t see him be vulnerable and
you needed to remember that.

“Move it.” He said, walking off in the direction of the Beneviento estate, listening to your quiet
footsteps behind him.

The nearer you got, the more fogged up it was. He hated the walk through the secret passageway he
had created, because it meant a longer route, meaning even more time spent outside his factory. But
what he hated more was walking through the path riddled with those damn hallucination incurring
flowers. He walked that path only one time and what he saw was enough for him to avoid it like the
plague.

The rain hadn’t let up and when he turned to look at you, he saw you struggling against your tears.
It all fit so well. He’d have to ask Alcina later, just to make sure.

You hadn’t noticed he had stopped walking until you bumped into him, your head hanging low. “S-
Sorry.”

Carefully, he reached for you, using a finger under your chin to lift your face up to meet his.
“You’re a curious one, aren’t you? I bet you have lots of questions about Donna and her doll, don’t
you?”

You hesitated, his emotions once again whiplashing you. You nodded when he didn’t let up and he
graced you with a sly smirk. “Ask away.”

You two started walking again as you asked him. “What exactly are Donnas powers?”

“Good question!” He praised teasingly, making you giggle a little. “Well, Donna has the main
ability to force people into horrid hallucinations. She has created some flowers that induced those
hallucinations on passer-by’s who don’t suspect it. But what she is mostly known for is that doll of
hers.”

Heisenberg gave a full-body jerk, always on the dramatic side. “The Beneviento family were
dollmakers, good ones at that. If I remember correct, Angie was a gift from her father. Donna
doesn’t like to talk, so she uses Angie to communicate with others.”

You turned a corner and the Beneviento family estate came into view. It had stopped raining.
Heisenberg knocked on the door, taking a step back to stand beside you.
You heard little footsteps and when the door opened, you at first thought it did so on its own. But
then Angie jumped into view, startling you.

“Welcome! Come in, come in, come in!”

Heisenberg made sure to walk in before you, seemingly trying to keep the doll away from you. But
Angie rushed through between his legs, jumping up and grabbing the hem of your shirt.

“Finally decided to stay with us? I’ll make sure to treat you nicer than that old fool over there ever
could!”

You couldn’t even get a word in before Heisenberg grabbed Angie by her neck from behind,
ripping her away from you. It looked like he was about to throw her when a faint voice spoke from
above.

“Please let her go.”

Both of you looked up at the source, Donna standing on the upper floor, leaning against the railing.
She was gripping the wood tightly, it looked like she might make it splinter in her hands.

Heisenberg's harsh grip remained, and you slowly reached out, laying your hand over his. He
turned to look at you with fire in his eyes, only for it to die down at your pleading look. You
carefully grabbed Angie by her waist, tugging just enough for him to get the hint to let her go.

You looked over the doll, adjusting its vail back into place as it had slipped to the right. You could
feel all eyes in the room on you as you bent down to let Angie get back on her feet. The doll ran up
the stairs and right into the arms of its Mistress, who hugged it to her chest.

“What do you want from us, Heisenberg?” Angie asked in her shrill voice.

Heisenberg took a deep breath, looking up at Donna. “I need a tailors hand.”

He gestured at you. “She needs clothes that actually fit her, she’s been wearing my shirts while
helping out in the factory and almost got caught by one of the machines.”

Helping in the factory? What was he talking about? You remained silent.

Behind the black veil, Donna gave you a once over, thinking. You had made some sympathy points
with the way you had handled Angie and though she didn’t want to help Heisenberg, she’ll gladly
help you. She communicated this through Angie.

The doll waved at you. “Well, come on up then! We have work to do!”

You moved towards the stairs, Heisenberg following only for Angie to shriek at him. “Not you!
You stay downstairs!”

“Like hell I am!” He retorted. “As if I’d leave her alone with you two!”

“Lord Heisenberg.” You grabbed his attention by using his official title. “I think I’ll be fine.”

Heisenberg didn’t like that at all but stayed silent, fists clenching tightly as he watched you go up
the stairs and then off with Donna.
“And don’t go destroying things in our house!” Angie yelled one last time before Donna closed the
door of the room she had led you into.

Angie huffed and Donna set her down so she could go to the wardrobe in the corner of the room.
The doll looked at you curiously.

“So, how is it in that dusty old factory?”

You shrugged, not knowing how much you were allowed to talk about. “It’s liveable.”

Angie giggled. “Regretting not choosing to stay with us yet?”

Surprising even yourself, you found that you didn’t, at least not anymore. But you couldn’t tell
them that, in their own house no less. Who knows what they’d do to you before Heisenberg could
intervene.

You were spared from answering when Donna walked back over to you with a measuring tape in
hand. She looked at Angie who talked for her.

“She needs you to take the clothes off, show those goodies!”

You went bright red and looked between the two of them, hoping that was a crude joke.

“Just to get your exact numbers.” Donna whispered, almost afraid.

You distantly wondered how much control Donna really had over Angie, because Donna wouldn’t
have talked if Angie said exactly what she wanted her to say.

The medical examinations with Heisenberg had somewhat desensitized you about undressing
before someone else, though it was still a huge hurdle to overcome, doing it in front of new people.
At least the shorts stayed on. Donna didn’t say anything and went straight to work, Angie giggling
to herself as she danced around the room.

You stayed silent, letting Donna work and adjust your limps the way she needed them to get all the
measurements. You couldn’t be sure because of the veil covering her face, but you thought she was
eyeing the metal Heisenberg has put around your ankles and wrists, almost like she felt bad for you.

When at last Angie told you to get dressed again, you sighed as the smell of Heisenberg's shirt was
back on you. Damn, you were going crazy, weren’t you?

Donna took you by the hand, so gently that you weren’t even sure at first if the touch was there at
all. She let you through the corridor once more, this time to another room, filled with various
fabrics. The only other thing in there was the table with the sewing machine on it that stood against
the window.

“Now choose! Which are the prettiest ones for you!” Angie's sing-song voice startled you a little,
forgetting for a moment what you were here for.

You went around the room, admiring the beautiful colours and revelling in the feeling of the fabrics
in your hands. The sun shined through the window, making a few of them glitter. Crazy weather
today you thought to yourself.
You picked out a few fabrics, Donna and Angie noting everything down. They led you downstairs
afterwards, where Heisenberg was sitting on a chair by the window, looking outside while waiting
for you to come back.

He shot up and walked around your form once, as if looking to see if your hosts have done
something to you.

“We should have some pieces done by next week, the rest will follow as time flows on.” Angie
explained as she let you to the door, clearly wanting Heisenberg out of her house, who gladly did
so.

At the door, you turned around once more, looking over at Donna. You gave a little bow with your
head, just like she had when you two first saw each other.

“I thank you already, Lady Beneviento.”

Donna gave a slight bow in return before Angie shut the door, her hurried footsteps going away
from the door.
 Meet The Lords (Again) 2

Heisenberg gave an overly dramatic sigh, stretching his arms above his head. “So tell me, did they
pull anything sketchy?”

You thought about your answer, his earlier outburst still lingering in your mind. But this was way
too good of an opportunity to waste. “Oh not really. I just had to undress.”

A beat. Then two.

“They did what?!” He roared, disbelieve on his features. “You’re fucking with me, aren’t you?”

You walked past him with a grin, going towards the path you came through. “Why so outraged?
They’ve seen just as much as you.”

Heisenberg struggled to stutter out a response to that, doing a little jog to catch up with you.
“You’re lucky they didn’t fight to keep you forever.”

You laughed, despite your guts telling you that scenario was very plausible. “Why did you lie to
them about the clothes though?”

Heisenberg chuckled knowingly. “Because I knew the only reason they’d accept my request was if
it was crucial for your safety.”

You fell silent after that, Heisenberg walking beside you in content quietness. The fog started to lift
up and you could see the village again, though you weren’t so sure if that’s a good thing. The
crumbling houses, the Lycans resting on the rooftops, waiting for something to walk beneath. It all
brought those imagines back.

You turned your gaze away, not wanting to be reminded of the fact that not all that long ago, you
were running for dear life to escape their sharp teeth.

The sky darkened, Heisenberg caught on. “Something on your mind?”

He snapped you out of your thoughts and you startled slightly, almost forgotten he was with you.
You looked up at the castle you two were walking towards, using it as an exit.

“Just thinking about Lady Dimitrescu.”

He didn’t believe you but decided not to push the matter. Instead, he went with it. “Let me guess,
more questions?”

You nodded with a light smile, though it didn’t quite reach your eyes. “At the church, you told me
as untouched as I look, I would soon find out what Lady Dimitrescu uses her dungeons for…What
did you mean by that?”

Heisenberg lit another cigar, needing one to stay calm for that conversation. “Alcina has a
hereditary blood disease of some kind. When Miranda implanted the Cadou in her, it gave her a few
abilities. She grew tall, she can sharpen her fingers into deadly claws, is strong and has great
regeneration powers…Though because of that disease, she has to drink human blood and eat their
flesh to keep herself up and running.”

You stopped walking and gasped at him. “You mean she’s a literal vampire?”

“In a sense.” He took a long drag from the cigar. “Though sunlight doesn’t affect her, neither does
garlic I’m afraid.”

You took a moment to take that in. You still saw that hunger in her eyes when she looked at you
and it clicked into place; It was actual hunger. She wanted to devour you! And she probably still
did.

Heisenberg watched you panic, looking up at the sky to see if something changed. And indeed it
did; It began to snow. The wind picked up as well, making him think about agitating you more, just
to find out if a full-on snowstorm would follow. He decided against it.

“And her daughters? Are they like her too?” You asked, trying to calm yourself with little success.

“That ones a little more complicated.” Heisenberg sighed, putting the cigar out against a house
wall. “They aren’t really her daughters. They’re reanimated corpses, created by a Cadou
experiment. Though they share her blood lust, they aren’t nearly as dangerous as their so-called
mother. If they get cold enough, they’re weakened and slowly die.”

You leaned against the wall, letting it all sink in. You were about to meet four bloodthirsty vampire
ladies, you’ll probably get out with a few pieces of your body gone.

“Which brings me to this next very important part.” Heisenberg crowded you against the wall,
pressing extra close. “They hate men more than anything in this world. They explicitly drink
maidens blood, only female virgins are getting eaten. Any woman touched by a man is straight out
as a food source.”

The very thought made you wince and you pushed a little against Heisenberg's chest, looking into
his eyes with a frown. “So what are you saying?”

He smirked down at you, licking his lips slowly. “I’ll make sure that they don’t even think about
slicing you up.”

In a flash, he went for your neck, biting it hard enough to bruise. You cried out at the sudden pain,
which only worsened when he continued to suck at the abused flesh. He released your skin with a
wet plop, only to dive back in on the other side of your throat. You fisted your hands in his coat,
trying to shake him off but he wouldn’t let go.

Dangerous thoughts crept into your mind. He couldn’t possibly mean making sure you weren’t a
maiden, right? He was not about to try and fuck you out in the open like this, right?!

“H-Heisenberg, please don’t do this.” You whimper, tears dwelling in your eyes, hating how
helpless you were.

His head shot up when he heard thunder above the two of you, looking at your pale face. He
realized his mistake and backed off immediately. He hadn’t thought that plan through at all.
“Shit! Okay, listen, I meant to make it look like I got my hands on you! They hate me more than
anyone, so they won’t even want to touch you!”

You had pressed your eyes closed when he backed off, slowly opening them now, watching him
warily. “Y-You’re not going to…?”

“No! Of course not!” He said, a little too loud as even a few Lycans turned their head to see what
was going on. He approached you cautiously, his hand taking yours, hoping to comfort you.

“I’m not that much of an asshole.”

You sniffed and shivered against the wall. “You’re a fucking dick.”

He let out a startled laugh, hoping the insult meant you believed and forgave him. “I’m sorry about
that.”

After a moment to let you call down, he made a last request. “If one of them asks you, you have to
tell them we did it. They have to think you’re not pure anymore.”

You nodded and pushed yourself off the wall, taking deep breaths to calm yourself. He only did that
to make sure you’re okay. He didn’t mean it in a bad way, he wanted to protect you. You repeated
that mantra all the way up to the castle.

Almost as if to soothe you, he went and opened the huge door for you, a slight bow as you walked
into the castle. It made you feel a little bit better, him acting like some sort of butler for you.

Heisenberg had just stepped inside too when a loud buzzing sound startled you. A huge swarm of
flies surrounded you, pulling you off your feet, not giving time for you to react to it.

“Heisenberg!” You yelped when the swarm dragged you away, fast enough to make your stomach
churn.

The hallways of the castle flashed before your eyes, your orientation gone in an instant. What the
hell was going on?!

They dropped you out of nowhere, letting you hit the floor with a pained groan. You wheezed and
coughed on the ground, shivering when giggles and laughs surrounded you. You looked up to
watch in horror as the flies manifest themselves, turning into three women who circled you with
interest.

“Mother! We have a guest!” One of them chimed, licking her lips as she enjoyed the fear in your
eyes.

You looked over at the direction that she spoke to, freezing when Lady Dimitrescu got up from a
chair, turning to look at you. You remembered her being tall, but you hadn’t remembered just how
tall.

The hunger still burned in her golden eyes. “Well, well! I hadn’t expected you to come to my
castle.” She leaned down, closer to you. “Did you escape my little idiot brother?”

As if on cue, Heisenberg slammed open the door, wielding his hammer in rage. His free hand
reached for you and by using his powers, he quickly pulled you back to him, turning you upright.
You ended up with his chest to your back and you felt the anger radiating from him. His free hand
went protectively around your waist.

“Tell your bastard daughters to keep their damn hands to themselves!” He screamed at the four
figures looking at him with disgust, making all of them gasp offendedly.

“How dare you talk about my daughters like this!” Lady Dimitrescu flexed her fingers and you
watched them grow into large claws. She approached with huge steps. Her daughters in the back
getting excited about the prospect of seeing them fight.

Heisenberg readied his hammer to strike, only for one of the daughters to shriek, making their
mother turn back worriedly, fearing something had happened.

The daughter pointed at you with disgust. “Mother look! He defiled her!”

Heisenberg gave a sly smirk when Lady Dimitrescu looked at the prominent bit marks and hickeys
covering the skin around your throat. She backed away, as if burned.

“Urgh! How can a woman let that man touch her?!”

Heisenberg watched her retreat, keeping his eyes on the four before you, but talking to you with a
hushed voice.

“You alright, sweetheart?”

“Couldn’t you drag me back faster?!” You hissed quietly, still shaking.

You didn’t need to look at him to know he rolled his eyes. “Can’t risk accidentally slamming you
into the wall, now can I?”

The situation somehow defused itself, everyone relaxing slightly. Lady Dimitrescu took a deep
breath and smooth down the front of her dress. Her noble blood became prominent again.

“Well, daughters. Let’s greet our uninvited guests as true Ladies do.”

Heisenberg relaxed completely and you just had to trust him that Lady Dimitrescu's words meant
they were safe, for now at least. The four approached you, their dresses making it look like they’re
floating instead of walking.

While Lady Dimitrescu still looked at you with disgust she pushed it away to force on a fake smile.

“I introduce to you, my lovely daughters.” She said, her hand moving elegantly over the heads of
the three women.

“Bela, my oldest.” The blonde one stepped forward with a slight head bow.

“Cassandra, the middle one.” The brown-haired one repeated her sister's actions.

“And Daniela, my youngest.” The redhead did the same, though she retreated with a loud sneer at
your direction, as if she couldn’t hold back the disgust at your very being. It looked like
Heisenberg's plan worked.
“Y/N” You introduced yourself, Heisenberg's grip on you not letting up, just to make sure he could
pull you away if they tried anything.

“Daughters, go torment the maids. I want to be alone with my brother and his…pet” Lady
Dimitrescu hissed the last word, the three women laughing as they turned into the swarm of flies
again, flying off.

“How nice of you to stay polite.” Heisenberg mocked her, his hand leaving your body, though he
stayed close enough to still intervene if the Lady became hostile again.

She huffed. “You could try the same, little brother.”

She walked over to where she was sitting, taking a wine glass into her hand and drinking until
nothing was left. Heisenberg's story stayed in your mind and you noted to never drink something
Lady Dimitrescu offered you.

She turned back to face you. “What reason do you have to come and disturb my day?”

Heisenberg left your side and you hurried after him, fearing the daughters coming back to get you if
he wasn’t near you.

“I wanted to ask if I could borrow an anatomy book from your library but on the way here, I
realized we have more pressing things to talk about.”

It seemed like her interest was peaked. “Speak then. What happened?”

Heisenberg looked outside the window again. “What was the weather like these past few days?”

Lady Dimitrescu rolled her eyes. “You know, if you’d just leave that damn factory of yours once in
a while, you’d see it for yourself.”

Heisenberg didn’t give a snarky comeback like you thought he would. He was serious.

“Alcina, just tell me.”

It looked like him addressing her by her first name made her acknowledge the importance of the
question. She sighed.

“All over the place. One minute the sun is shining and in the next thunder is roaring through the
sky. Then it rains only for the sun to reappear. It’s been a strange few days and my maids have been
getting sick! Weak mortals can’t put on the appropriate attire in time to adjust to that ever-changing
sky.”

Heisenberg hummed in agreement, pointing at the window. “Look outside for a moment.”

Lady Dimitrescu did as asked and Heisenberg turned to face you. “Sorry in advance.”

You didn’t have time to ask what he was going to do when he used his powers to drag you up to the
ceiling by your ankles, turning you upside down. He was shaking you, as if trying to see if you’d
drop something.

“Heisenberg!” You wailed, trying to keep the nausea at bay. “Let me down you fucking bastard!”
Outside the window, Alcina watched as a storm formed, lighting flicking dangerously over the
clouds, just daring for the last little push to strike down at the ground. Heisenberg gave it that push
as he let you fall, only to catch you within his arms.

A lightning bolt struck down, hitting an unfortunate Lycan that was climbing on top of a roof. She
didn’t listen to your profanities as you started hitting Heisenberg's chest, she just watched a
moment longer with keen interest.

She only turned around when she heard you throw up, already dreading the mess on her floor. You
sat on one of her chairs, hunched over as you continued to gag. Heisenberg rubbed your back, if
only in mock concern.

“Was a little too rough there, huh?”

“You think?!” You coughed, head still spinning as you leaned back. You wanted to apologize for
the mess you’ve caused, but you didn’t have the energy.

Heisenberg looked up at Lady Dimitrescu. “What do you think?”

She heaved an exhausted breath. “I think your pet is messing with the weather. And it appears to be
fuelled by her emotions, meaning the weather changes on a whim.”

You looked up at the two figures towering above you. “Huh?”

“But,” Heisenberg said, “I’ve noticed it depends on the intensity. The emotion has to reach a certain
level for it to influence the weather. Anything before that is just too weak.”

“You need to inform Mother Miranda immediately.” Alcina reminded him.

He scoffed at her. “Do you think I don’t know that?”

You followed their conversation with as much interest you could muster but Heisenberg really did a
number on you. You just wanted to lay down and sleep for a few days.

You closed your eyes, keen to do just that, voices fading only for Heisenberg to shake you awake
again.

“Come on, we’re going home.”

You groaned in protest, only for Heisenberg to bent down and pick you up and into his arms.
“You’re lucky I’m willing to carry you this time.”

Distantly you knew he was putting on a show of annoyance for Lady Dimitrescu, making her think
that he couldn’t care less about your wellbeing. You knew better than that by now. You let yourself
drift in and out of sleep, the way back to the factory going by in a haze.

You felt him laying you down in his bed and you missed his warmth when he pulled away. You felt
his hand running over the top of your head but you couldn’t be sure if you imagined it or not. What
you certainly didn’t imagine was his voice.

“Sorry again. You can sleep, I have to go work a little more.”

You were asleep by the time he had left the room and when you woke up next, you were still alone.
But when you reached out to make sure, you felt cold metal against the palm of your hand and
opened your eyes fully.

You looked down at the little iron steed next to you, bringing the small tag wrapped around its neck
closer for you to read.

Sorry

H
 Welcome To The Family
Chapter Notes

Just wanted to say thank you once more for all your comments and Kudos! Although I
struggle with having time to respond to all of them, know I read them and apprechiate it so
much!

It’s been two days since discovering your powers.

You held still as Mother Miranda turned your head in all kinds of directions, looking you over to
get every detail. Behind her, the fours Lords waited patiently for her to finish up her exam.

A few times you looked over Miranda's shoulder at Heisenberg, whose head was turned away just
enough for it to look like he wasn’t interested in what was going on. But you knew him better by
now, you knew behind his dark lenses covering his eyes, he was watching you closely.

“Fascinating.” Mother Miranda sighed, at last, her hands falling away. “Controlling weather to this
intensity is certainly a curious power.”

She took a step back, her hand coming up to grab her chin, thinking. She was assessing you, sizing
you up. Then she sighed.

“But too unpredictable. Another unfit vessel.”

You wanted to jump up and down with joy at those words, but instead lowered your head, as if
disappointed.

“I’m sorry, Mother Miranda.”

Heisenberg had to hold back a snicker at your display. When he had discovered your powers, he
already knew Miranda would decide for you to be unfit. You seem to not have any control over
them, the clouds and sky changing with your mood. And with someone like Heisenberg around
you, who could bring you from a fit of laughter right to the verge of rage in mere seconds, the
weather acted accordingly.

Luckily, since Heisenberg and you mostly stayed inside, it didn’t affect you as much as the others.
Hell, you two hadn’t even noticed your powers for over a week!

Mother Miranda petted the top of your head. “Not your fault, child. The Cadou gave you this gift.”

You weren’t sure if it could even be called a gift. Even with this supernatural ability, you felt
useless. You couldn’t use the weather in any way to defend yourself, if a Lycan attacked you, you
couldn’t throw it off or even really hurt it before it would tear into your flesh. You were also at a
huge disadvantage inside, where snowstorms and thunder didn’t matter at all.
You wondered what Mother Miranda would do to you once she realized this. Even Heisenberg
looked a little bit uneasy.

“Mother Miranda.” Lady Dimitrescu grabbed everyone's attention, excitement sparkling in her
eyes. “What should we do with her now?”

Heisenberg turned to glare at her but remained silent for the time being. He knew there wasn’t
much he could do to help you if Miranda decided to get rid of you.

The blonde woman looked into your eyes, icy blue staring deep into your soul and you hoped she
saw something in you to make you worthy of being kept around.

“I think she might become useful later on.” She finally decided and you let the breath you held in
fear rush out of your body, muscles relaxing.

Miranda looked at Heisenberg. “Take those makeshift shackles off of her.”

“Mother Miranda, you sure that’s-“ He couldn’t even finish voicing his concern before she
interrupted him.

“Are you questioning me, son?”

You saw Lady Dimitrescu smirk satisfyingly, clearly happy to see Heisenberg being put in his
place.

After a beat or two, Heisenberg flexed his fingers, the metal around your ankles and wrists falling
off. The clank they made as they hit the ground bounced from wall to wall all the way up in the tall
church.

“Of course not.” Heisenberg said through gritted teeth. “Mother Miranda.”

She seemed satisfied by his words, turning back to take both your hands in hers. “Now Y/N. I think
it’s time for you to get some independence, find a home of your own here in the village. You will
need time and practise but maybe you’ll get some control over your power.”

The other Lords had gone back to their seats, not interested in the conversation anymore. But
Heisenberg still stood there, looking at you and Miranda. His face was a mask, not showing any
kind of emotion, but you got the feeling if you could just see his eyes, you’d see the sorrow in
them. Maybe even disappointment.

He must have caught your eyes behind those glasses, because he turned suddenly and went to his
pew, lighting a new cigar before plopping down onto it. He pulled his hammer into his lap, starting
to caress its edges as he used to after he told you about Mother Miranda's ultimate goal.

For comfort, you thought to yourself.

An idea crept up in your mind, a stupid idea, downright crazy! But wasn’t your whole life like that
by now?

You’re really about to do this, aren’t you? “Mother Miranda, may I make a request?”

That caught everyone's attention once more. Even Heisenberg who had sunk deep into his thoughts
snapped his head back up. Mother Miranda gave a little nod, her eyes shining with curiosity, eager
to hear your next words.

“Lord Heisenberg has been keeping me contempt throughout my stay with him. I fear if I were to
be left alone for too long, my unpredictable nature might cause me to slip and misuse my powers.”

Heisenberg's mouth fell open in a silent gasp, not believing what you’re doing. Not that anyone
trusted their eyes and ears this very moment. You went on.

“I know if anyone is capable of keeping me in check, aside from yourself, it’s Lord Heisenberg.”

Lady Dimitrescu's voice roared to life, shocked beyond her believes and clearly losing her patience.
“Speak your request at once!”

Mother Miranda gave you a knowing smile as she let you step aside, walking over to where
Heisenberg was sitting. He stared at you when you dropped to your knees at his feet, looking up
with pleading eyes.

“Lord Heisenberg, may I stay with you at your factory?”

You knew you may have been laying it on way too thick but Heisenberg wasn’t the only one who
could be overly dramatic. You made sure to angle your head so that only he could see your smirk.

He was tensed up, shell shocked almost and you thought the spring he had wound himself in would
snap if you even did the slightest bit of movement.

“Well, Heisenberg?” Mother Miranda did the favour of snapping him out of it before the silence got
any more awkward. “Will you grant her request?”

He sucked in a strangled breath, as if he just realized he was about to suffocate himself. You heard
Angie giggle behind you, making fun of how Heisenberg looked at this very moment. There was no
way to safe face for him now, he couldn’t hide the effect your request had on him.

He stumbled over his words. “I eh – I think – I mean…Yeah sure.”

His eyes never left you when you got up to your feet again, turning to Mother Miranda with a slight
bow. “Of course, only if you allow me to.”

You didn’t need to see her eyes to know you had impressed her. You knew she would let you go
back with him and as such, didn’t flinch at all when she laid her cold hand on your cheek, tilting
your face up to meet hers.

“Of course I allow it. I appreciate your forward-thinking.” She beckoned you to straighten up more.
“You may not be a Lord of this village but now a part of our family nonetheless. I wish for you to
have the same freedom as the Lords have, so that you may leave the factory if you wish for it.”

Lady Dimitrescu scoffed at you, Donna gave a little clap of her hands, Angie laughing excitedly
and Moreau smiling brightly. You had your back turned to Heisenberg, but knew he was probably
grimacing at the thought of you now stuck in this fucked-up family of theirs as well. You hoped
Mother Miranda couldn’t see his face behind you.

You thanked her and the priestess gestured for you to sit down next to Heisenberg, you didn’t need
to be asked twice. Almost on autopilot, Heisenberg put his hammer down to the ground, giving you
space to sit at his left. It was a miracle the cigar still hung in his mouth after all of that.
“Now children.” Mother Miranda went to her throne, sitting down in one elegantly done move.
“We still have other matters to attend to.”

You angled your body towards her, your knees coming to rest against Heisenberg's. You made it
look like you did so to give Miranda all your attention, but in actuality, you shielded your hands
from the other's eyes as you softly put your right one over Heisenberg's gloved left one. You felt his
fingers twitch beneath yours and smiled, acting like nothing was going on until the meeting was
over.

When Miranda dismissed you all, Heisenberg had finished his cigar and stomped it out on the
ground, having gathered his senses somewhat in the meantime.

Lady Dimitrescu gave you one last heated glare before she turned and left the church, undoubtedly
planning on letting her rage out on some poor maid of hers.

Donna and Angie came up to you, the doll telling you about the process they had made with
making your new attire and you thanked them once more, ensuring them that you didn’t mind
wearing Heisenberg's clothes a little longer.

When they too left, you scanned the area for Moreau, just about seeing his hunchback in the dark
corner, making his leave. You sprinted after him, giving him a big smile when he turned to face
you. You told him you would come and visit him when he had time for it and Moreau looked to be
near tears at your words. Though the glistering in his eyes could also just be his usual slimy self.

When at last you turned back to look in Heisenberg's direction, he had gone. The smile on your lips
faded in an instant and dread laid heavily in your stomach of the very real possibility that
Heisenberg had left you behind.

You ran towards and through the dark hallway you two had come into the church in, hope leaving
you once you made it outside with no Heisenberg insight. It started to rain heavily, only making it
harder to see. The weather once more reflected how you felt.

Had he just abandoned you? Did he not want you to come back with him? Did you read everything
he had done for you wrong, was it all just because of a sense of obligation on his end? Would the
factory doors still welcome you if you went there?

You were about to tumble into a fit when something heavy thudded to the ground in front of you.
Your heartbeat rapidly increased in your chest, hoping it was Heisenberg. It wasn’t him, but maybe
the next best thing; His hammer.

It was weird seeing it without its Master, just laying on the wet ground. Where had it even come
from? You turned your head in all directions, not seeing his form anywhere.

The hammer began to stir, bringing your gaze back down to it. It lifted off from the dirt, mud
sliding down its head. You just watched, not sure what to do when it moved closer to you. The
handle poked at your thigh, then sliding in between the gap in your legs. You pressed your legs
together on pure instinct and the hammer lifted up high into the sky with you straddling it like a
witch riding her broom.

You screamed in fear, dropping forward to clutch at the hammers head, desperately clawing at it,
scared you could fall off. You’re pretty sure bones breaking from a fall this high would take months
to heal, even with the Cadou in your chest. It didn’t get any better when the hammer started
swirling across the sky. You had hoped it would bring you back to the factory, that leaving you was
just some kind of prank on Heisenberg's side.

But the hammer flew past the factory and across the village. You saw some ruins and only held on
tighter when you were forced to fly through tiny spaces, past hordes of Lycans that climbed the
crumbling walls. You heard them snarl at you, some trying to snatch you as you rushed past, luckily
all too slow to even touch you. Until finally, the hammer arrived at its destination.

It stopped abruptly in a big cave, waiting there until you slipped off, your knees weak from the
journey. The hammer went to a wall and leaned against it, task apparently done.

You took a moment to catch your breath, feeling a little dizzy, before you looked around the place
Heisenberg's hammer had dragged you off to.

Your eyes landed on the lonely figure of the Lord himself, sitting on an edge with his feet dangling
freely off the cliff. He was staring off into the depts of the cave below. Something wasn’t right.

“You can reach pretty far with those powers of yours, I’m beginning to think you enjoyed the
picture of me being dragged off by the Dimitrescu sisters.”

You tried to joke around, lighten the mood, wanting to drag Heisenberg back up from whatever
deep hole his mind had pulled him in. It only earned you a faint huff.

You dropped your attempt, hesitating before approaching him. “Heisenberg, what’s wrong?”

He jumped to his feet, his face contorting into a mix of anger and desperation you hadn’t seen
before. “You’re what’s wrong!”

You took a step back, not understanding and despite everything he had done to you, this might have
hurt the most.

Heisenberg caught himself, shaking his head with a snarl, as if hating the way he acted right now.
“Sorry about that.”

Your gaze was hesitant to meet his. “If you don’t want me to come back to the factory, you could
just be honest about it.”

He let his head roll back, an annoyed groan leaving his lips.

“That!” He raised a finger to point at you accusingly. “That’s what I mean! Why the fuck do you
want to come back?! Wasn’t running off your goal at one point?”

You couldn’t deny that and he knew it. You tried to answer him but didn’t find the right words to
describe the feeling you had when you made that request. It just felt so right, like you were meant
to be at his side.

He exhaled loudly, clearly exhausted. He turned around and crouched down, cradling his head in
the palms of his hands. “I’m just so fucking confused.”

You didn’t say anything, feeling like it was more important to just listen to him, letting him say
everything he needed to let go and just vent.
“Miranda had captured you and now you’re stuck with us in her fucked-up little family! And I
don’t know why I give a shit!”

He straightened up, turning to face you.

“Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I last cared about someone? Because I can’t
remember a time in my life when I gave a single fuck about anyone else aside from my sorry ass!”

His chest was heaving, his hammer rattling as it began vibrating against the stone wall it leaned
against. For the first time, you realized that Heisenberg's control over his powers slipped when he
was driving into intense emotions, similar to yours. It was so obvious, why hadn’t it come to you so
clearly before as it did just now?

“And then you request to come back with me! The first time you chose me, you didn’t know any
better, but now you know how I am, what I am! And yet you still want to come with me…Are you
fucking stupid?”

You started walking towards him as he rambled on, cautiously but without fear.

“I don’t know what to do with all these fucking feelings inside me! I’ve never felt this way before
and-and…”

You stopped in front of him, slowly reaching up to his face. When your warm hand met his cheek,
all fight left him and he leaned into the touch with a heavy sigh. His brows furrowed and you didn’t
need to see his eyes to know he had closed them.

“It scares me.” He admitted, barely a whisper. The words were foreign on his tongue.

You brought your arms around his neck, standing on the tips of your toes to pull him into a hug. His
body sagged against yours, the Cadou inside you must have given you some extra strength, because
you didn’t budge with the added weight.

You stood there in silence for as long as Heisenberg needed to calm down. It ended up being just
short of 20 Minutes when he decided to pull away from the comfort of your body, if only
regrettably.

“I’m sorry about leaving you behind at the church.”

It wasn’t the first thing you expected Heisenberg to say after everything else he had said and
confessed. It made you chuckle.

“Don’t worry, Heisenberg. I understand.”

He took off his sunglasses, looking at you with slightly wet eyes. “Karl.”

It took you a moment to register what he meant and the realization that he wanted you to call him
by his first name made warmth spread through your body.

You smiled and nodded. “Alright Karl. How about we head back to the factory for now?”

Karl took a shaking breath, releasing it with a laugh and grabbing his hammer. “Good idea. Come
on, the cave has a secret passageway.”
You followed him, as per usual, and just when you were about to leave the cave, you happened to
catch a glimpse of a huge Lycan, sleeping peacefully at the bottom of the crater, cuddling an even
bigger hammer than Karl had.

The fact that he had let his feet dangle off into the direction of the creature made you sigh. Wasn’t
that such a Karl Heisenberg thing to do?

The sun began to set when you made it back outside, bathing the world around you in a soft orange
tone, the wind pushing through the strains of your hair. What a day it had been.

Karl let you enjoy the moment, waiting for you to continue walking. Once you did, you rushed to
his side, taking his free hand into your own.

He looked down at your joined hands, not sure what to think of it all. You squeezed his hand
encouragingly, rewarding him with a calm smile when he returned the gesture. The rest of the walk
back to the factory was silent, safe for a few Lycans nearby howling but that didn’t disturb the both
of you in the slightest.

Heisenberg held onto your hand all the way until you arrived back in the safety of his room. He
tried to excuse himself, said he needed to work some more, but you convinced him to come to bed
with you. He was exhausted, emotionally drained, he needed rest, not getting more worked up
down in his workstation.

You both got ready for bed, not saying a word, just letting everything that had happened roll
through your heads once more, processing what had been said.

You knew there was a direly needed conversation about it all, but it could wait for another time.
Right now, Karl needed something else.

You flopped onto the middle of the bed with him approaching warily, not sure what you were up to.

You reached a hand towards him. “Just trust me…can you do that?”

“I haven’t trusted anyone ever.” He told you, honest about how messed up he was. “So yeah, no
promises.”

He gave you his hand anyway and you pulled him down on top of you. Karl went as stiff as one of
his many metal pieces he had laying around. You didn’t let that deter you though.

You gently grabbed the back of his neck, pulling his head down until it rested on your shoulder.
Slowly and with gentle reassuring you guided his body to lay down on top of yours.

You shushed his worried words about crushing you and started combing your fingers through his
grey hair. It was softer than you would’ve thought and he gave a full-body twitch when you used
your nails to gently scratch his scalp. Slowly as time went on, he relaxed more and more against
you, becoming your very own Heisenberg blanket.

You began to hum the tune of your favourite song and once he became a dead weight on you, you
dared to lean your head down to press your lips to the crown of Karl's head, assuming he fell
asleep.

Heisenberg was never more awake.

 The Book
Chapter Notes

Hi everyone! I just got back from work and I wanted to update asap because I know the agony
of waiting for a new chapter when things started to get steamy ;D

The next day, you awoke because Karl was pulling himself away from you. You wanted to whine at
the loss of warmth, wanting to keep him in bed with you the whole day. But you remembered what
had happened between the two of you yesterday and knew a talk was due.

Heisenberg moved around the room with almost clumsy movements, gathering his clothes and
disappearing into the bathroom, presumably to dress himself. He didn’t say a single word, almost
like he was ignoring you. Or maybe he was imagining you simply weren’t there.

Karl reappeared from the bathroom, his usual attire back on display on his body. You sat up and
moved to sit on the edge of the bed, watching him steadily avoiding your eyes.

“I need to get some stuff done.” He finally said, rushing over the words in an effort to get out quick,
as if he couldn’t get away from you fast enough.

“Karl.” You reached for him, only for the Lord to take a step back. “I think we need to talk.”

Heisenberg tensed up at your words. “I can’t, not right now.”

You wanted to change his mind, plead with him, but he used a word you hadn’t heard him use
before.

“Please. I need to be alone for a while and gather my thoughts.”

Your outstretched hand dropped into your lap and you nodded with understanding. “I get that. I’m
here if you need me, okay?”

“Okay.” He repeated with a sigh, turning on his heel and sprinting out of the room, not casting
another glance at your direction.

You tried not to feel bad about his behaviour towards you, reminding yourself that he needed time.
If what he said was true and this was the first time he cared for someone, it shouldn’t surprise you.
You got the feeling that he never let someone see him as vulnerable, never let anyone near him like
that. He must’ve been very lonely.

Why he let his façade slip in front of you? You weren’t quite sure.

You stretched and sighed, accepting the fact that for now, you couldn’t do anything to help him.
You got ready for the day, eating breakfast and distantly wondering how the weather was right now.
With your emotions all over the place, it should be a curious sight.
You wanted to get out and see it. Mother Miranda said you could move freely now, right? Maybe
you could find your way out of the factory, the way out didn’t seem to be that far.

Deciding to give it a go, you went to the door. When you opened it, your eyes widened as for the
first time ever, the lights in the hallway were lit. On the ground were yellow arrows, pointing in the
direction of the exit. When had Heisenberg done that?

It felt a little bit like a trap to follow those arrows to the elevator. You remembered the button
Heisenberg pressed when he let you to the upper floor. And sure enough, within five minutes you
were outside, the huge factory doors slamming shut behind you. You hoped you had enough
strength to open them up later on. It was hard enough to push them open and you dreaded having to
pull them open when you wanted to get back inside.

Remembering why you wanted to get outside in the first place, you looked up to the sky. Grey
clouds covered it, though not thick enough to stop the sunlight from shining through them. Sounded
about accurate to the turmoil inside you.

You contemplated about going back inside but as your eyes caught the sight of the castle, a thought
popped up in your head. Karl originally wanted to go to castle Dimitrescu to borrow a book from
the Lady's library, an anatomy book, if you’re not mistaken. Maybe it would bring him a bit of joy
if you went and got it for him.

Karl hated having to go there.

Deciding on that, you went off towards the village with determination. You found the gates to the
factory slightly ajar and you slipped through them, walking the path you were familiar with by now.
Despite Mother Mirandas promise to you being able to move around freely like the Lords, you felt
a pang of fear when you spotted the first Lycans.

They watched you with a growl, but ultimately kept their distance. It made you feel just a little
powerful. The beasts that once hunted you now didn’t dare to come near.

The walk to the castle took you about half an hour and you shivered from the cold as you took the
steps up to the entrance. Your hand lifted to open the door only to freeze as it touched the wood,
reality setting in.

What were you doing? Lady Dimitrescu despised you! Her daughters wanted to rip into you the
second they had you in their hands.

Would the trick Karl used the first time still work? Would they accept Mother Miranda's word and
let you into their home without any hostility?

You thought about turning back, but then felt a sudden rush of courage. Screw it! You’d at least try
your luck.

You opened the door and let it fall closed behind you, looking around the entryway in an effort to
spot any flies. Finding none, you went up the stairs and into the main part of the castle.

You hoped to find Lady Dimitrescu, wanted to avoid her daughters at all costs. But you weren’t that
lucky, because you just walked in on all four of them in the middle of a conversation.
Their eyes snapped to you in an instant, followed by a hissing as the youngest daughter readied
herself to attack, only waiting for her mother to command her.

“You!” Lady Dimitrescu yelled, her voice booming around you. “How dare you trespass into my
home!”

You kept your cool as best as you could, staying rooted to your place. “I-I’m sorry, Lady
Dimitrescu. I apologize for invading your space.”

Her daughters giggled and you watched as they started to circle you, making it impossible for you
to keep them all in your view. You gulped.

The Lady approached you with big steps, but maybe due to her size, those steps were just normal.
Hard to tell really.

“You better have a damn good reason for this.”

Oh well, this wasn’t going the way you wanted. “Erm…Not really sure about that.”

Alcinas left brow twitched in anger, getting impatient. Her gloved fingers flexed, as if to remind
you of her claws and what they could do.

You took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, looking up at her with all the determination you
had. “Lord Heisenberg had asked to borrow an anatomy book from you. I’ve come to ask once
more in his place.”

Laughter erupted all around you and you felt like you just made a complete fool of yourself by
asking for a damn book.

“My, my. Did my brother get too lazy and has you do his dirty work for him?” Lady Dimitrescu
grinned down at you devilishly. “Though you should know all about dirty work, don’t you?”

The implication was clear and your cheeks reddened to a deep crimson colour, only making the
laughter increase.

“Alright, for making me laugh this wholeheartedly, I’ll allow you to visit my library.” She looked
over her three daughters, thinking. “Cassandra, accompany her and make sure she leaves our walls
right after.”

“Yes, mother.” Cassandra answered with a smirk, looking at you as if to determent if she should
mess with you or not, testing to see how far she could go before her mother got mad. Certainly not
your idea of a tour guide.

She decided against it, it seems, as she turned and waved for you to follow her. You nodded and
said your goodbyes. Maybe if you were polite enough in the face of their danger, they would start
to threaten you less.

Cassandra let you through hallways and up and downstairs, through various elegantly decorated
rooms and you struggled to keep up. Damn that castle was huge.

When at last you arrived at the library, you sighed with relief. Now only find the book Heisenberg
wanted. It proofed to be a harder task than you originally thought. Karl never said what kind of
anatomy book he needed, so you were left to look over all of them and decide which one could be
of the most use for him.

As you were thinking, Cassandra approached you from behind.

“You know, my mother said you’re crazy.”

You tried to act nonchalant. “How come? Because I came here twice?”

Cassandra moved to lean against the shelf you were standing before, crossing her arms over her
chest. “Well yes, but mostly because you chose to leave with Uncle Heisenberg two times! You
truly must’ve lost your mind if you gave yourself to that man-thing willingly.”

You knew she was trying to get a rise out of you but in a rush of boldness, you turned the tables on
her. “What can I say? That man knows how to play my body like a damn harp. I mean the things he
can do with his tongue!”

Cassandra backed off immediately with a nasty look on her face, almost gagging. “Ew! Quiet!
Don’t speak another word about it!”

Satisfied with her reaction, you grabbed the largest anatomy book from the shelf and smiled at her
innocently. You couldn’t wait to tell Karl about this, he was going to laugh his ass off.

Cassandra rushed towards the exit, having you run after her just to not get lost in those never-
ending hallways. Then suddenly she stopped, and you would’ve bumped into her if her body didn’t
break into the swarm of flies again when you touched her. The flies manifested as Cassandra just a
little further off to the side.

She pointed in the direction of the servant's exit. “There’s the exit, I won’t risk going closer to it.”

You eyed her for a moment, assessing if that was some sort of trick, until you remembered what
Karl had told you about them. They can’t stand the cold and Cassandra wouldn’t risk the open door
hurting her.

You nodded with a sly grin before turning to take your leave. “Tell your mother I said thank you.”

You enjoyed hearing her scoff in disgust.

You pressed the book close to your chest as you walked the way back to the village, smiling to
yourself and hoping Karl would appreciate the gesture. Maybe it would ease some of his worries, if
only a little, if he saw that you put in the effort. You hoped it would.

When you arrived at the altar, you noticed a carriage standing to the side. It wasn’t there when you
walked through there earlier.

You approached it with curiosity and were greeted with a familiar and still just as kind smile.

“Duke!”

The merchant's smile grew impossibly wider at the sight of you. “Y/N! What a pleasure it is to
meet you once more.”
“Wasn’t sure I ever would again to be honest.” You chuckled, remembering Heisenberg's outburst
when you first met with the Duke.

“Yes, yes.” He mused. “The Lord Heisenberg looked rather on edge the last time I saw him.”

You sighed, the way Karl acted this morning still laying heavily on your heart. Absentmindedly you
ran your fingers up and down the spine of the toom you were holding. “Yeah, he’s been…”

You stopped and shook your head. The Duke didn’t need to know what was going on between you
and Heisenberg behind those factory doors, even if the desire to talk with someone neutral was
there. You put on a smile instead.

“Never mind, I need to get back to the factory. It was nice seeing you again Duke.”

“It was my pleasure Y/N.” The Duke said and his smile turned into a slight smirk, as if he knew
something you didn’t. But maybe you just read too much into it.

You turned and continued walking back to the factory, trying to shake off all the negative thoughts
on the way. Karl needed you to be there for him and you’d be damned if you didn’t do that for him.

The gate was still ajar, so you went through and sprinted to the doors, holding the book tight with
one hand. With your free hand, you pulled the door open, fighting against its weight but not giving
up until you were able to get inside. You huffed a little but smiled proudly. That wasn’t so bad now,
was it?

You followed the arrows on the ground back to Heisenberg's room, admiring his Crest for a
moment before stepping inside. Your smile faded.

The room was a mess, more so than usually. The pillows on the bed were ripped in half, the stuffing
and feathers scattered on the floor. The table was smashed to pieces, the door to the bathroom had a
huge hole in the middle of it. The walls were covered in dents, some resembling the rough shape of
Heisenberg's hammer.

In the bathroom, the mirror was shattered into a million pieces, some shards being smudged with
blood. In the kitchenette, a few doors to the cabinets were ripped off and on the floor you saw all
the shattered pieces that used to be the plates, as if someone had smashed them against a wall.

It looked like a beast had torn through the living space and your stomach dropped at the thought of
Heisenberg fighting something that had somehow managed to get up here. Maybe it was one of his
creations with the drill. You had to find him!

You ran out of the room and when you turned a corner, you saw even more broken pieces of
whatever it used to be scattered on the floor, more dents and holes covering the walls. Whatever
had attacked Karl, they must’ve gone through here. You followed the carnage like Hensel and
Gretel followed the breadcrumbs.

At one point, your ears were graced with the sound of Karls loud voice, somewhere not too far
from here. You never thought you’d be glad to hear him yell. You weren’t sure, but you thought his
screams were leading you to his workstation.

Your steps got even faster but stopped dead when your hand touched the handle of the door.
“You fucking idiot!” Karl was saying, followed by a loud crash.

Was he still fighting that thing?! Fear seared through your body, the blood flowing in your blood
vessels felt like it turned into ice. But you snapped yourself out of it. Karl needed you. You pushed
open the door, just enough to see inside. What you saw wasn’t what you expected, but maybe even
worse.

There was no attacker, no beasts or anything like that. It was just Karl Heisenberg.

He hadn’t noticed you, stomping through his destroyed workstation with his grip tightly on the
handle of his hammer. His fists were covered in his own blood, some of it dropping down onto the
floor.

He lifted his hammer and smashed it against a shelf, leaving everything tumbling down. “Why?!
Why the fuck did I think it’s going to be different?!”

The metal walls creaked and bend towards him, his powers let loose. “Of course she’d fucking
leave me too! The first fucking chance she had! That fucking bitch!”

You realized he was talking about you and felt a stabbing pain in your chest at his words.

“Why did she have to be so damn cruel about it! Requesting to come back with me, only to leave
the very next fucking day!” This time, he threw his hammer and it hit the wall with enough force to
get stuck in it. “What was I fucking thinking?!”

He tore his hat away, bloody hands fisting into his grey hair hard enough for you to worry he’d rip
some junks of it out, looking down at the floor. You had to step in, tell him you were still here.

You stepped inside slowly, approaching him like you would an insured animal. “Karl?”

One of his knives immediately flew in your direction, aimed at your head and with sheer luck you
reacted fast enough to shield yourself with the anatomy book you still held in your hands. The knife
embedded itself deep into the pages and it made you stumble a little, balance nearly knocked away.
Everything went silent.

It took a few seconds, but you started lowering the book when you found the courage for it. Your
wide, terrified eyes met with Heisenberg's, still shielded by his glasses. How they managed to stay
on during that outburst could nearly be considered a miracle. His arm was still outstretched, his
naked hand shaking as he realized it was actually you.

You took a shaking breath, trying to push the terror away from your voice. “Hey Karl.”

His arm dropped to his side before he let himself slump down to his knees, hands limp as he
lowered his head, either from embarrassment or from being ashamed. He didn’t say anything.

You went over to him and dropped to his level, the book pushed to the side as you put it down. He
didn’t react, except for a deep frown to appear on his face. Your hand was still shaking as you lifted
it, gently resting it over his cheek. A shacking exhale, then Karl laid his hand over yours, pressing
it harder to his skin, as if to make sure it was real. That you were real.

You ignored his blood that now covered your skin. You didn’t know what to say, what to think
about the scene you just witnessed. You just wanted for him to feel better.
Heisenberg started leaning towards you, if he meant to or not, you weren’t sure. You just slid closer
so he could rest his forehead against your shoulder, your joined hands dropping from his face. His
breath tickled the skin on your neck and you felt his beard pocking you slightly through the shirt.
All fell silent. You needed to say something to ease into this conversation.

“I got you the book.”

Admittedly, that may have been a weird choice. Karl straightened himself back up, daring to look at
you.

“What?”

You looked to the book, knife still sticking out. “You wanted to get an anatomy book from Lady
Dimitrescu. So I went and got it for you…hope it’s the right one.”

Karl just stared at it, processing. “You went to that damn castle without me?”

“Is that really what you want to talk about right now?” You reached for his face once more, turning
him back to face you. “Karl, what happened?”

His face twisted in anger once more and he ripped himself away from your touch, getting up. He
gestured around the room. “Isn’t it fucking obvious?!”

You too got up, slower than him though. “I want to hear it from you. I want for you to talk with me
about all of this.”

He groaned in frustration, his hammer pulling out of the wall and back into his hand. “I-I got other
things to do!” And he went for the door.

You rushed past him and blocked his path, looking at him with pleading eyes. “No.”
 A New Beginning

You knew this was a weak attempt to hold him back. He could bend his pinkie and have you
dragged away from the door by a random piece of metal. But this was too important to not at least
try.

Karls gaze wandered up and down your body in disbelieve. “No? Who the fuck do you think you
are, telling me no?!”

“I’m someone that fucking cares about you!” You raised your voice, hoping for it to reach inside
that thick head of his. “And someone that’s worried about you Karl!”

That in turn had Heisenberg staggering back slightly and for a moment you thought you got
through to him. Not exactly.

“Fine!” He said through gritted teeth, snatching you by your wrist and pulling you away from the
door. “Let’s fucking talk then!”

He shoved the shelf next to the door over to block the way, so neither of you could get out without
the other having time to hold you back. It made you slightly uneasy, feeling like you’re in a lion's
den as Karl circled around you as if you were his prey.

“Could you please put your hammer away?” You asked him, your muscles wanting to flinch as he
swung it around as if there wasn’t any possibility of it doing any kind of damage. The broken
furniture around the room would certainly beg to differ.

He stepped closer to you, towering over your smaller form with an almost sadistic grin. “Why? You
scared I’ll kill you? Because you fucking know I could.”

You knew he wanted you to cower away, to back down from his intimidation tactics, show him
what he thought you really saw him as. A monster.

But in this very moment, you saw him for what he actually was; A scarred man, terrified of the
unknown and desperate to shield himself from it all. He wanted you to hate him, just so he in turn
could hate you. Hate came naturally to him, this new feeling did not.

“Fucking do it then.”

Your words hung in the air around you, the silence suffocating. You stared him dead in the eye,
even if deep down, you were scared. Heisenberg was a dangerous man, he always was, especially
in situations like these, but just how far would he go? Would he actually try to kill you, even after
everything he had confessed the previous day, just to prove a point?

Karl froze, hammer still gripped tight. The gears in his head were turning, thinking about what his
next move should be. Double down? Back off? Make a whole damn joke about it all?! But he knew
he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

The hammer fell to the ground with a loud clank and despite wanting to be strong, you couldn’t
help the relieved sigh. Heisenberg was hard to read on the best of his days, let alone in these kinds
of moods. You were glad he chose not to go further with threatening you.
Heisenberg took a few steps back, putting space between the two of you. If for your or his own
comfort, you didn’t know. He reached up and dragged his sunglasses off, tired eyes scanning your
face.

You wanted to reach for him, tell him it was okay, but forced your hands to your side. “Karl, I
know you’re scared and I understand-“

“No! You don’t understand Y/N! Because you can’t.” He snarled, but with the way his eyes had
lost their shine and fire, it didn’t have the same effect like it used to.

He stomped to the wall that had the pictures of the others on it, now mostly scraps that still clung to
it. “All my damn miserable life, all I knew to feel was hatred. If I had shown any kind of fear, gave
them any reason to believe I was weak, I would’ve been crushed. Fear is for the weak.”

His voice went quieter, as if he didn’t really want you to hear what he said. “And then you show up
and suddenly I have all those iddy-giddy feelings build up inside me. All I know how to do is lash
out because I can’t fucking handle my own rage, and I don’t want to lash out at you and that
terrifies me because that’s all I fucking did for decades!”

Silence followed as Karl fought to catch his breath, his shoulders shaking with the concoction of
emotions stirring within him. Not for the first time you wondered how long Karl had been trapped
in Mother Mirandas clutches. His still bloody hand smudged over Miranda's picture bitterly.

“How is it that you still want to stay with her most horrid creation?”

You walked up behind him, your hand coming up to touch the space between his shoulder blades.
Even through his thick coat you could feel his lungs fighting with heaving breaths. “Please look at
me.”

Karl hesitated, needing a moment to gather enough courage to follow your request. And when he
finally did, you pulled his head down until your foreheads touched, breaths mingling, both sets of
eyes closed. You felt his right arm move slightly, reaching for you but retracting every time it got
close, as if afraid your body would burn him.

You helped him, guided his hand with your free one to your waist, pressing it to your skin hard to
make sure he got the point, that he was allowed to touch you.

“Because…” You whispered into the little space remaining between you two. “…With you I feel
whole.”

His breath hitched at your words and he couldn’t help but lean even closer to your warmth, craving
it. A moth to a flame, as they said.

“You should’ve stayed away. Why do you keep on coming back, everyone else would run for the
hills.”

“Well, maybe my heart is made from metal.” You answered him. “And that’s why you pull me in
like a damn magnet.”

The joke brought the faintest of smiles to his lips, if only for a second.
“You told me you never trusted anyone before.” You sighed, his answer to the question you’re
about to ask him making your nerves tingle across your body. “But are you willing to try?”

Karl sucked air in through his teeth, the very thought of it making him tremble. Trust could lead to
betrayal, betrayal meant his already shattered mind would be ground until it became as thin as sand,
only needing a gush of wind to get carried away. Trust was dangerous. But he wanted to trust you.
He wanted to believe that you meant your words, that despite what that bitch Miranda had turned
him into, you still wanted to be with him. The thought felt like the first drop of water after a
draught on his tongue.

“If…If you ever go against me, or behind my back…I won’t hesitate to finish you off.”

Despite it being a threat, you smiled and nodded against him. “I’ll allow it.”

The craziness of it all caused both of you to chuckle, as if all of this had been a joke, when you
both knew it was anything but. It could’ve all ended in a very different and very bloody way. But
enough of this darkness, it was time to bring some light back into Heisenberg's eyes.

You pulled away, just a little, but Karl's throat produced a strangled whine at the loss. It sounded
like he was trying everything to hold it in only for it to push through anyway. Your hand on his
neck gently moved across his scarred skin until it was back in the familiar position of being on his
cheek. Your thumb rubbed over it a few times, enjoying his facial hair scratching you a little.

And then you leaned up and brushed your lips over his, softly, barely even considered a touch. This
was very new territory, you couldn’t know how he would react if you went in for a real kiss. For all
you knew, he might not even have had someone kiss him before and you didn’t want to ruin this
calm intimacy by scaring him off.

So the light brush of lips it was, an invitation for him to either accept or decline and you told
yourself you would not show the disappointment if he pulled away. This was his decision to make,
and his only.

You could tell Karl was torn between the two choices, accept or decline the offer, and it became a
little awkward after a while, but you pushed through it, giving him the time he needed and
deserved.

Then, he leaned in a little more and his trembling lips found yours, uniting. A rush of air left both
of your lungs through your noses and suddenly everything clicked into place. The grip on your
waist tightened and Heisenberg's free hand mirrored it by taking a hold of the other side too,
thumbs digging into the dips of your hips. The hand that didn’t still lay on his cheek moved across
his torso and up his neck, your fingers finding the hair at the nape and starting to play with it. Both
of you angled your head a little more until your lips fitted together perfectly.

Time became an illusion, neither of you could tell how long your lips stayed connected, moving
gently against each other. It felt like the world was spinning and yet also like time itself had
stopped moving forward. It was a nice feeling.

But the moment got ruined as a small metal slab sizzled through the air and smacked you across
your bottom, making you break the kiss to yelp in surprise and then hiss at the sting it left in its
wake. Heisenberg flinched a little from the surprise, not having realized what he had done.
“Oh shit, sorry about that.” His cheeks reddened a little as he scratched the back of his neck. “Got
carried away.”

You rubbed over the spot to lessen the sting, glaring at him. “Dumbass.”

After a beat you both started snickering only for it then to turn into a full-on laughing fit, Karl
leaning against the wall behind him for stability as you clutched at your stomach. It took a while,
but the laughter died down to soft chuckles and little love-sick glances at each other.

You got a grip of reality first, sighing as you looked over the carnage Heisenberg had created and
already dreading having to deal with it.

“How about we start cleaning up before either of us steps on something sharp?”

Karl shrugged and waived your concerns off. “No need. I’ll just go kidnap some of Alcina's maids
to deal with it.”

The mention of Lady Dimitrescu made you remember why you had left the factory in the first
place. “Oh fuck!”

You went to the book and picked it up from the ground, brushing over the cover to get the dirt off
of it. The knife was still deeply embedded and it made you groan at the realization of what that
meant.

“She’s going to fucking kill me if I bring that back.”

A strong hand ripped the book away from you, Karl looking over the damage and assessing it. He
used his powers to pull the knife out, throwing it over his shoulder at the wall behind him, once
again targeting Miranda.

Again, he merely shrugged. “Don’t worry, I bet she doesn’t expect to get it back anyway. Not the
first time I ‘borrowed’ something from her.”

That didn’t exactly relieve you, but you let it slide. There were other things to think about, more
important ones, like all that blood on his hands. You frowned at them, the Cadou should’ve closed
up those cuts long ago, why was it still bleeding?

Carefully you took a hold of his left wrist and brought his hand closer for inspection. Glass shards
stuck in his skin, some deeper than others, and every time he moved his fingers, they would cut the
wounds open again. You remembered the broken mirror in the bathroom, he must have punched it.
When you looked back up, Heisenberg had his head turned away, ashamed.

“Come on, let’s go back to your room for now, hmm? Cleaning up could wait for later.”

He sighed and nodded, slowly retracting his arm from your hand and moved to the shelf blocking
the door, pulling it away into its original position, only for it to tumble over to the other side with a
loud crash. Karl looked at it for a moment before letting his gaze wander around his workstation, as
if finally fully realizing how much destruction he had caused. And it would only be getting worse
and you knew that as you dragged him through the tattered hallways and up to his room, his
hammer floating behind.
You tried your best to reassure him, to tell him that it’s going to be okay, but it seemed every
broken piece he saw only made the guilt worse.

“Sit.” You told him and pointed to the bed, still covered with the feathers of the ripped pillows.

You turned and went to the kitchenette as he sat down, looking around because you knew you once
saw a first aid kit lying around there somewhere. After a minute of searching, you found it and
brought it back to Karl, sitting down next to him. You opened the kit and scanned its contents,
finding some tweezers.

Karl raised an eyebrow when he saw you grabbing them. “I don’t think I need those, Y/N. I can just
pull them out, it’s going to heal up anyway.”

You gave him a pointed look and grabbed his left hand, bringing it to your lap. “First of; No need to
cause more damage just because it’s easier, and also; I want to take care of you. The past days have
been incredibly challenging for you and you deserve to relax a little.”

He cringed. “Shouldn’t I be the one doing shit for you? I wasn’t exactly easy on you.”

“Karl.” You warned, starting to remove the shards of glass. “If you argue with me about this, I
swear I’ll somehow have lighting strike you.”

“Feisty.” He said under his breath but ultimately let you do as you pleased. He was getting tired of
fighting anyway.

You both fell silent, you concentrate on your task, carefully extracting the shards and watching with
morbid fascination as his skin regenerated, leaving more scars to join the ones he already had.
Heisenberg on the other hand began to move closer to you, at one point close enough to lay his
head down on top of yours. You could tell the days events caught up to him and he must’ve realized
how tired he now was.

It wasn’t like he had slept at all last night, cuddled up close to your warm body underneath him.
After he felt your lips touch the crown of his head, he was done for. A warm feeling washed over
him and at first, it brought a certain easiness to him. For a short while, he felt safe and content and
it was as if everything else was so far away, not even worth worrying about.

But then that warmth started to hurt, as if he had been thrown into fire or into one of his furnaces
deeper in the factory. He wanted to pull away, but instead suffered through it the whole night,
because the thought of disturbing your peaceful sleep felt even worse.

He only dared to move away when he was certain the next day had started. He couldn’t bear to look
at you, afraid of what he’d see if he did. He pushed you away, because what else could he do?

Yet you told him you would be here, waiting for him for when he needed her. After about two hours
of half-heartedly done work, he found the strength to go back and face you. Only you weren’t there
anymore.

In hindsight, he knew he overreacted. But the thought that you just went out for a while, fully
intended of coming back to the factory, didn’t even cross his mind. And then the all-consuming
rage he was so familiar with flared up and he felt it from his toes up to the very tips of his ears.
And he dealt with it how he always had; He exploded. It was the way he had always handled
things, ever since Mother Miranda had taken him all those years ago. He never knew anything else.
But then you came back, and all he did was throw a fucking knife at your head. His heart clenched
in his chest when he realized who it was that had startled him out of his rage.

“Karl, did you hear me?” You asked for the third time, this time loud enough for him to snap out of
his thoughts.

“Huh?”

You rolled your eyes fondly. “I said I got all the shards out. Could you let me get up?”

He straightened up and looked down at his hands, freshly scarred. You got up and went to the
bathroom, being careful to not step onto the broken mirror pieces, and retrieved a cloth, wetting it
with water. You returned to his side and gently rubbed the dried-up blood away from his hands,
continuing on his face and trying to at least get a little bit of it out of his hair. The rest he would
have to shower off.

You repeated the clean up on your own skin before finishing up with the handle of Karls hammer.
You knew the thing was important to him and you wanted to show him that you also cared for what
he cared for.

He watched it all with keen interest, even more so when you went to his closet and took his shirt
off, bloody handprints at the side from when he had grabbed your waist. He saw you without a top
so many times already, but in this new context, it made you shiver slightly, feeling his heated gaze
upon your back, before pulling a fresh shirt on.

You motioned for him to lay down on the bed, brushing the feathers away. He shrugged his coat off
and dropped it to the floor before pushing his boots off and flopping down onto the mattress. You
waited until he was comfortable laying on his side before you joined him, cuddling up to his well-
defined back.

It was a little ridiculous to have this bear of a man be the little spoon, but he didn’t seem to mind as
he pressed his back closer to your front. You slung an arm over his waist and after some hesitance,
he took your hand into his own, relaxing into your hold. You kissed the back of his neck and waited
until he was fast asleep before pulling away and starting to clean up.
 The Notes
Chapter Notes

How are you guys doing? I hope you're all well and have a nice weekend!

Since that day, a whole month had passed. Things between Karl and you were a little weird, but
you still counted it all as progress.

There was no label to put on your new relationship; It was definitely more than just friends but
calling it an actual romantic relationship would be farfetched. It wasn’t like friends with benefits
but there was a certain commitment you had to each other. It was just something.

You’ve fallen back into the same routine with him, only with some added bonuses like kissing,
hugging and occasionally back rubs. To tell the truth, it was mostly you giving Heisenberg
everything you could, but he had his moments too.

Like when you were frying eggs one morning and he hugged you from behind, sleepily resting his
chin on your shoulder as he watched in silence.

He was, of course, still struggling with the whole concept of having someone with him, that
intended to do so permanently. His trust issues were deeply rooted and it would take a long while
for that to change, and you understood that.

You understood when he looked you up and down suspiciously every time you tried to gift him
something, as if your goodwill meant you wanted something in return. You understood his
outbursts whenever the intimacy you two had crossed one of his invisible lines that he refused to
clarify. You understood whenever he needed time for himself to think.

But that didn’t mean you necessarily liked it. You struggled with his whiplashing emotions, how
one word could trigger something in him and have the outside Heisenberg manifest, his view of
himself that he needed to maintain whenever he was around his siblings or Mother Miranda. But
then he’d come back a few hours after shouting at you to kiss your shoulder blades or your cheek.

He was a complicated man, for sure, but you knew that already even before you kissed him and
sealed your fate.

You avoided thinking about naming that feeling you got whenever you were around him, because
the answer would always be love and you refused to call it that. On one hand, because you’ve met
him just about two months ago and on the other hand because you felt a little like having
Stockholm syndrome from it.

Was it even considered Stockholm syndrome if you stayed with your captor even after he let you
go? Was he even really your captor when he himself was a captive? You must’ve lost your mind
sometime during your stay at this godforsaken village, not that that was a surprise to you.
The one thing that keeps popping up in your mind was the burning question of how long
Heisenberg has been stuck with Mother Miranda.

He made it clear that he wasn’t used to affection and that even the thought of trusting someone
never crossed his mind. He was a lone wolf, so to speak, and wary about anything that came with
kindness.

You could understand that trusting his makeshift family was hard, besides Heisenberg you didn’t
trust any of them completely either. Moreau may be a close second, but with his blind devotion to
the woman who had turned everyone around her into what they are now, you were still cautious.

But the way Karl talked about that issue, it sounded like it was all he ever knew. Did he even have a
life before Miranda? The thought made you sadder than anything else.

One evening, you had brought the subject up to him while watching him tinker away at something
in his workstation. The warning growl and screwdriver that flew past your head and into the wall
behind you was all he gave you as an answer, and all you needed to get his point.

It was obviously a painful thing for him to talk about and you respected his boundary, even if the
need to know was killing you.

Today, Heisenberg's rarely used cable phone rang and when he picked it up, he immediately
frowned in annoyance. You were busy tidying up the pillows and sheets when he called for you.

“Y/N! It’s fish freak for you!”

You rolled your eyes, hating whenever Karl called him that, but let it slide. You went over to him
and grabbed the phone from his hands.

“Moreau! What’s up?”

Heisenberg leaned against the wall beside you, arms crossed and obviously straining to hear what
the other Lord was telling you. If you didn’t know any better, it would look like he was jealous of
your smile as you talked to Moreau.

“Y/N, the Duke sold me some tea! Would you like to come visit today?”

Your heart warmed a little, the tone of his voice making it clear that he was excited, but also scared
of being rejected. Moreau had such low self-esteem that something as simple as an invitation for
tea made him anxious.

“Of course, I’ll be on my way shortly.”

You two said your goodbyes and when you hung up, Heisenberg was on you.

“What the hell does he want from you?”

“Just invited me for some tea.” You shrugged, pushing him away slightly to step around him,
walking to the closet.

Donna and Angie had kept their promise of delivering in a timely manner and the beautiful clothes
they made you now rested in the broken closet alongside Karls. The shared space made you smile
contently, a sweet feeling of domesticity washing over you. You started looking through them now,
trying to decide what to wear.

“And you’re going?” Heisenberg stepped up to your back, probably to cage you in or to assert his
dominance, wanting to be in control. It didn’t work well though, as you simply leaned back until
you were flush against his chest, still gathering your attire. You could tell it made him a little
frustrated, but he got over it rather quickly in favour of putting his arms around you.

“Yeah.”

His arms tightened a bit. “I don’t want you to.”

“Too bad.” You answered, voice having just a hint of teasing in it. You may have feelings for him,
but you weren’t going to let him command your life.

He growled at your words. “Fine. I’m coming with you then.”

You rolled your eyes again, turning around in his embrace to look at his face. He was looking back
at you, beautiful eyes uncovered, challenging you to change his mind.

“I’ll let you come with me.” You said then, reciprocating the challenge. “If you swear to not say
one rude thing to or about Moreau the whole time we’re there.”

He smirked at you smugly. “That’s easy, I’ll just say a bunch of rude things then.”

“Karl.” You groaned his name in a warning tone, clearly annoyed now. You both knew short of
sewing his mouth shut, there was no way he’d act any kind of civil towards Moreau.

The warning did its effect and Karl backed down, if only reluctantly. “Okay, okay! I’ll stay here.”

You caressed his cheek lovingly. “Thank you.”

Heisenberg looked at you like a beaten puppy and it was a slight bit infuriating how much power
that look on his face had over you. You sighed and craned your neck up to kiss him, which had him
relax in an instant and kiss you back. The aftertaste of the kiss reminded you of his Cuban cigars,
telling you he had just finished smoking one before he got back to your room. The scent you once
despised was now something you endeared.

Afterwards, you continued getting ready, skilfully ignoring Karl pouting as he watched on, clearly
regretting having backed down and honouring your wishes. He still remembered when during your
last visit to Moreau, you told him you would’ve chosen the fish if he had stayed during that
meeting and though he would never admit it to you, and both of you knew Moreau didn’t stand a
chance against him, he hated the thought of you choosing anyone else over him.

Once ready, you went back in to embrace him loosely. “I’ll be back sometime during the afternoon.
You okay?”

He sighed and nodded, pressing closer to you. You knew leaving the factory will always put him in
distress. You reassured him so many times that you’d come back but that didn’t stop the voices in
his head from suggesting otherwise, and you both knew that and had discussed it already. Though
he hated seeing you leave, he knew he had to learn to trust that you’d come back. So far, you
always had and he reminded himself of that fact over and over again during your absence.
Your lips reunited in a parting kiss and you leaned up to press another kiss to his forehead, hoping
it would wipe away his frown. It worked a little.

“If I smell his stench on you when you came back, you’re not allowed to come to bed with me.”

You chuckled despite knowing he was trying to deflect from the fact that he was struggling to let
you go. “Understandable. And you don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

“Can’t make any promises on that one.” He answered with a forced laugh, finally willing himself to
step away so you could take your leave.

You gave him one last kiss before you went on your way, following the arrows until you got outside
and you sighed when the fresh air hit you. Sometimes you forgot just how much you missed going
outside, spending most of your time inside the factory as to not upset Karl as much. Maybe you
could convince him into taking a walk with you sometimes.

Heisenberg had given you a map of the area a week ago, making sure you wouldn’t get lost without
his guidance and you pulled it out now to make sure you were on the right path. On your way, you
saw something shiny in a rock formation and you threw a stone at it to see what it was. It fell to the
ground and when you picked it up, you saw a beautiful little crystal. Interesting.

You stuck it in the pocket of your pants for now, continuing walking until you could make out the
windmills. You ignored the smell and just continued walking up the stairs until at the very top of
Windmill one, Moreau greeted you.

“Y/N! You came!”

“Of course I did.” You giggled. “Can’t miss the opportunity to get some decent tea around here.”

He gestured for you to follow him as he waddled around a box to reveal a makeshift sitting area.
You could tell he had put it all together just for your visit and you smiled at him. The table and
chair were wooden crates, covered in semi-clean cloths and on the middle of the table was a vase
that missed a piece on the side, holding a single yellow flower in it. He was so proud of it and you
couldn’t help but smile brightly for his efforts.

At his request, you take a seat and he went around the room to gather the boiled water, a set of
cups, a tea filter and the bag of tea itself. He used a spoon to take the dried-up leaves and put them
into the filter before putting it into the water. His hand was shaking the whole time and you
couldn’t tell if it was because the careful movements were straining his muscles or if he was just
terribly excited.

Either way, you accepted the cup of tea he produced gratefully. You thought about asking for sugar
but got the feeling if he didn’t have any around, he would work himself up over it, so you kept
quiet about it. He sat down on the other crate, struggling a little to get up on it. He looked at you as
if expecting you to make a crude joke about it but smiled when you didn’t. The poor dude wasn’t
used to being treated kindly at all, was he?

“Thank you so much for coming over, Y/N.”

“It’s my pleasure.” You assured him, taking a sip of your tea with a satisfied hum. You couldn’t tell
what kind of tea it was, but it tasted good and that was enough for you. “So, how have you been?”
His whole face lit up at your question and he started going on and on about how he had found some
movies while searching through an abandoned house at the edge of the village. He described them
to you in great detail and every now and then he would ask if you wanted him to shut up. Every
time you reassured him it was fine, his shoulders would sack with relief. Seems like Karl wasn’t the
only one not used to common decency in this family.

After a while, Moreau and you were quietly sipping the rest of your tea in content silence, as an
unasked question turned your face into a slight frown. He picked up on it within a second of it
being there.

“Something wrong? Have I messed something up?”

You waved his concerns away with a sigh. “No, no. You’re a great host, Moreau. Just thinking
about Heisenberg is all.”

He leaned closer in interest. “What is it? Maybe I could help?”

You regarded him, considering. “It’s just…He had told me about you three other Lords but anytime
I tried to ask him about his past, he got really upset.”

Moreau immediately backed away, terrified. “Please don’t make me say anything! Brother is going
to hurt me if I do!”

You raised the palms of your hands up innocently. “No! I would never force you to say anything,
please don’t worry about that.”

The fish Lord relaxed slightly, still a little wary. “Why do you want to know anyway? The past is
not important anymore.”

His words made your stomach churn a little. You forgot just how devoted Moreau was to Mother
Miranda and how he seemed to ignore any sort of reference to a time she wasn’t in their lives. As if
she always had been there.

You sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, Moreau, forget I said anything. Besides, Heisenberg doesn’t want
me to know.”

Something flashed over his face just then, as if remembering something and contemplating if he
should bring it up or not. Apparently, he decided to try it.

“I-I’ll be right back.”

You watched him hurry to his chest on the other side of the room, rummaging through it for a while
before retrieving something from it. He came to your side and stretched out a sleek black notebook
for you to take. You did so curiously, opening it as Moreau went back to sit.

“Karl Heisenberg, notes by Mother Miranda.” You read the title out loud and immediately snapped
the book closed once you realized what this was. “Why do you have this?”

Moreau grinned proudly. “Mommy wanted me to copy her notes on us four Lords, in case
something would happen to the originals in her laboratory!”

You eyed him questioningly, forcing yourself not to cringe at the word Mommy. “Why did you give
me this? I thought you didn’t want to say anything.”
“I’m not saying anything.” He stated simply with a hint of proudness. “You just so happen to see it
and now you can read it for yourself!”

Nice loophole, you thought to yourself, caressing the smooth surface of the notebook. The
temptation was huge, to say the least. You possibly held the answers to most if not all of your
questions about Karl in your hands, ready to be uncovered. But you’d be going behind his back,
betraying his already fragile trust in you. You didn’t want that.

“I…I appreciate this very much.” You said with honesty. “But I won’t read it without Karls
permission.”

You noticed Moreau's eyes widening a little as you called Heisenberg by his first name, because
you knew he usually didn’t allow people to use his first name to refer to him.

“Moreau, may I take the notes back to the factory with me?” You asked hopefully, an idea forming.
“Maybe Karl would allow me to read it together with him.”

Fear immediately covered his features, slime popping out of his pores from the stress of it. “No!
He’ll come for me! I don’t like his hammer!”

A shiver went through your body as you forced yourself to ignore how gross he looked right now.
“Don’t worry! I’ll tell him I saw it laying around and stole it from you. I won’t let him come hurt
you, I’ll take the full blame on it, I promise.”

Moreau still looked uncertain and afraid of his more powerful siblings rage. You fluttered your
eyelashes at him in an attempt to convince him.

“Please?”

You felt just a tad bit guilty about it, using Moreau's desperation to have a real friend against him
now to convince him into doing this. You made a note to yourself to make it up to him later.

“If-If you promise to bring it back and that Heisenberg won’t be mad at me.”

A wide smile graced your lips. “Yes, I promise! Thank you, Moreau.”

He took your words in like a sponge would water and smiled. “You’re welcome, Y/N.”

You both finished your tea and when you later went to make your leave, you reassured him once
more and promised to find some more movies for him to watch. He waved at you from the top of
the windmill until you went around a corner and out of sight.

You held the notebook close to your heart as you walked in the direction of the factory. Was this
really a good idea? Karl will definitely get angry at you for having the book in your possession at
all, but maybe he’d be more amenable to you reading about his past than him telling you himself.

You couldn’t quite place the reason for its importance to you. What Karl and you had going on
went good this far, he had already opened up to you way more than he probably ever had. Why was
his past such a burning need for you to know about? Perhaps you were just noisy, or maybe you
hoped deep down that if you knew everything that built Karl into the man he was now, you could
help him heal from it.
In the distance, you saw the Duke's carriage and decided to pay him a visit. The merchant had a
way of calming your nerves just by talking to you and God knows you could use that ability of his
right now.

“Y/N! How glad I am to see you return.” He greeted you as you approached his shop. “Anything I
can help you with today?”

You thought about it for a moment before reaching into your pocket and presenting him with the
crystal you had found. “You buy stuff as well, right? Is this worth anything?”

He took the item from your palm and turned it over to see all its sides. “Ah, a crystal fragment. I’d
purchase it for 2000 Lei, if that’s what you want.”

You nodded your head and smiled happily when he gave you the coins, planning on getting
something for Heisenberg to calm his nerves before you’d ask about the notes.

“Do you have any of Heisenberg's cigars by chance?”

The Duke thought for a moment before leaning back into the depts of his carriage, turning back
when he had found a stack. “You’re in luck! I just got some. They’re yours for 1000 Lei.”

“Deal.” You agreed, handing him half of the coins back and taking the cigars. “Thank you, Duke.
I’ll be sure to bring you more crystal fragments if I find any.”

“I can’t wait to do more business with you.” He said, hands folding over his big tummy. His eyes
landed on the notebook in your arms. “Ah, I recognize those. Took them from Lord Moreau, did
you?”

Your eyes widened in shock as he bleatingly called you out. “H-How would you know?”

“I know a lot of things, you’ll come to see.” He chuckled, relaxed as always. “But don’t worry. I’m
a merchant, not a tattletale.”

You weren’t quite sure about that but decided to let it go. Heisenberg would hear about it from you
soon enough and somehow, you got the impression Mother Miranda wouldn’t care if you read her
notes, maybe she’d even encourage it.

Still, you regarded him warily. “Thanks, I guess. I’ll see you around.”

“Take care on your way, Y/N. Until next time!” He bit you his farewell, giving you a little wave as
you took off, back to the factory.
 A Broken Man
Chapter Notes

TW: Childhood trauma, blood and gore, kidnapping.

Not going to lie here, I cried writing this chapter. I just want to mention that most of it isnt
canon but my interpretation of what happened. As far as I'm aware, we only know that
Heisenberg was taken in by Mother Miranda at a very young age, like not even a decade old.

You arrived back at the factory while it was still afternoon, just like you had told Karl before you
left. You pulled the doors open and took a last glance up at the sky.

It looked like your powers were more dormant since Heisenberg and you started whatever it was
you two had. The thought brought a smile to your lips, even if you enjoyed Lady Dimitrescu's
whines about how her staff was still getting sick, you were glad the weather wasn’t changing as
much anymore.

Back inside, you hurried back to Heisenberg's room, though truthfully, it was now clearly your
room as well as his. You opened the door, looking for the mad engineer, but finding no sight of him
here. Meaning his workstation was the next best bet. You went there, the way not as confusing
anymore since you’ve walked there enough times by now to memorize it.

You heard shuffling around the room when you approached the door, deciding to hide the notebook
in the inside of your jacket for now. You knocked and waited for him to call you inside, doing so
ever since you once ran inside too fast and scared Karl so much that all the metal he was currently
holding in the air flew to the nearest wall.

Karl opened the door himself instead of calling for you, a sighed exhale leaving his mouth at the
sight of you being back. You immediately went in for a kiss, which he reciprocated with great
emphasis, pulling you into his workstation and closing the door behind you, not breaking away one
second.

He leaned down to your neck, nuzzling and taking a deep breath. “Good, you don’t smell slimy.”

You rolled your eyes and let your right hand seep through his tangled hair that struck out from
under his hat, enticing a little grunt from him that was neither approving nor disapproving. He
should really combe it more.

“I got you something.” You said, pushing him up so you could show him the cigars you bought.

He took them from your hand, eyeing you. “Where did you get those from?”

Hearing the second unspoken question about how you could afford them, you answered. “On the
way to Moreau's place I found a crystal shard. I later sold it to the Duke and bought the cigars in
turn, I still have 1000 Lei left.”
You showed him the coins, as if to prove the truth of your words, and he nodded, quickly leaning
back in to place a kiss on your hair, murmuring a quiet “Thank you.” In your direction.

You took a seat on one of his many workbenches, watching him store the cigars away, a nervous
tingle forming in the pit of your stomach when you pulled the notebook forth again. He had his
back to you and didn’t see it yet. You wondered if he would recognize it.

“Hey listen, I may have done something bad.”

He snorted, as if you doing anything bad wasn’t a possibility. “Oh yeah? Tell me about it.”

You cleared your throat, holding the notebook out for him to see when he would eventually turn
around again. “I found this in Moreau's windmill and I got curious, so I stole it from him.”

As expected, he turned to see what you took, freezing when he saw it. He definitely knew what this
was.

“Please don’t get mad at Moreau! He doesn’t know I took it.”

As you talked, he walked closer, calmer than you would’ve thought and took the notebook from
your hands, looking down at it with a neutral expression. You would’ve thought he was thinking
about what to say, but when you heard the tell-tale sound of the clutter around the room rattling
slightly, you knew he was about to explode.

And indeed he did, face snapping up to yours with a vicious snarl. “You fucking bitch.”

You flinched back at the insult more than in fear. He turned around and slammed the notes down on
his desk, making sure his sunglasses and hat stayed in their place as his emotional shields. The
rattling got louder.

“You want me to trust you right?!” He turned around in a flash, white teeth clenched tight. “And
yet you went behind my back and got Mirandas notes on me, for you to read! Even though you
know what the topic does to me!”

You swallowed, staying calm. “I haven’t read any of them yet. I read the title page, realized what it
was and closed it again.”

The room got a little more quiet, but the noises that warned of his rage didn’t completely fall silent.

“Then why the hell did you take it?”

“Because Karl,” you began, “I thought you might feel more comfortable if you didn’t have to tell
me yourself, if I could just read it for myself. I brought it back because I didn’t want to do anything
of the sort if you didn’t give me your permission.”

You got to your feet, approaching him slowly. “You’re right, I know what the topic does to you. So,
I wanted to ask if I could read them. I didn’t want to break your trust.”

Karl turned his back to you once more, leaning on his arms against the desk and looking down at
the notebook. The clattering grew quieter until it fully stopped and you relaxed a little. This
could’ve gone way worse.
Your question for permission to read the notes still hung in the air and you stayed quiet, letting him
decide in peace.

When at last he turned around and pulled you to his chest, you got a shimmer of hope.

“No.”

You couldn’t help the way your body froze at that one simple word and he held you tighter,
obviously noticing it.

“I appreciate that you didn’t read it without me knowing.” He said, voice heavy with some kind of
emotion. “But I can’t let you.”

You pushed the disappointment away from your voice or tried to do so to the best of your abilities
at least. “I get that. I-I’m sorry I brought it up.”

You pressed your face against his torso, trying to hide how you felt so Karl didn’t feel bad about
saying what he needed. You felt his arm move as he took off his glasses and hat, hesitantly setting
them down on his desk alongside the notebook. He stroked over your hair with his broad hand,
slowly beckoning you to look up at him. You did so reluctantly.

“The story, my story, is something that cuts me deep,” Karl explained, leaning his head down to
kiss your forehead before resting his own against yours. “And talking about it hurts so much that
I’d rather have it kill me.”

You nodded against his forehead, accepting that he’d never tell you how he ended up here. But then
he surprised you.

“…so if anyone is going to tell you, it’s going to be me and not Mirandas fucked up version of what
actually happened.”

“Karl, you don’t have to.” You reminded him, your hand taking a hold of his, guilt written all over
your face. “I should’ve never pushed you like that.”

“It’s okay.” He assured you, voice barely above a whisper. “It’s only a matter of time before you’d
hear it from one of the others and their versions drift apart further from the truth with every passing
year.”

Heisenberg pulled away to look you in the eyes. “My only condition is that we do this in the dark.
I…”

He swallowed thickly, fighting to push away the painful sadness in his chest. “…I can’t do this
while looking at you.”

“Whatever you need.” You promised him and you meant every word of it. “But you don’t have to
do this now.”

He nodded knowingly. “Yeah, but there is something else I need to show you and you need to know
what happened to me before you see it. Just so you’d understand.”

With that, his hold on your hand tightened and he turned towards the door, pulling you with him.
You followed his hurried steps, surprised when he pulled you back to the elevator that brought you
down here. Inside, he used his power to move a piece of steel away from the controls, revealing
three more buttons. So, this wasn’t the lowest floor after all?

The elevator descended and you squeezed Karls hand a little, getting a strange vibe from the new
sounds you suddenly heard around you. When the doors opened, you found yourself in a way
bigger area than you’ve ever seen since your stay here. You thought he had much junk laying
around before but the piles upon piles of scrap you saw now made you realize you hadn’t seen shit
yet. Before you could get a good look around, Karl pulled you into a semi-lit hallway towards a
door with five red glowing lights. The fingers on his free hand flexed and you heard gears turning
behind the door, the lights going out one by one until he could open the door. The room you found
yourself in looked similar to his workstation, only even messier.

Your eyes went to the slumped figure sitting on a chair and you gasped, pushing yourself closer to
Karl. He looked over to what scared you and rolled his eyes with an annoyed huff.

“Shit, forgot that was in here still. Hold a moment.”

To your complete dismay, he let go of your hand and approached the figure, kicking it once in the
shin for it to jerk awake. As the sound of a drill filled your ears you nearly screamed, flashes of the
attack that happened weeks ago still fresh in your mind. You clasped your hands over your mouth
in an attempt to not draw its attention towards you.

“Get out!” Heisenberg yelled and for a split second, you thought he was addressing you, only for
the mess of flesh and steel to stumble off towards the door. You stepped as far away as you could,
the breath you were holding rushing out with a soft sob as the creature left. The noise barely left
you before Karl was on you, hugging you tightly and shushing you gently.

“Sorry. I’m desensitised about them, I forgot that that wasn’t normal.”

You pressed your face to his chest, similar to when you first encountered one of his creations. “I’m
okay.”

Behind you, you heard the gears turning once more, locking the door. You were once again alone
with Heisenberg. He pulled away and caressed your cheek, checking you over to see if you were
really fine before pulling you towards a table.

“Sit up.” He ordered you, grabbing your hips to help you.

He then went around the table, discarding his trench coat on the now empty chair and climbed up as
well, settling in behind you. His legs spread and he pulled you into him until your back was flush
against his chest, his arms snaked around your upper body. You settled against him, running your
fingers over his hairy and scarred arms. An iron plate began to move and smacked against the light
switch next to the door, turning all the lights off in a flash and leaving you in complete darkness.

You felt his breath down your neck, remembering a time when that feeling terrified you. His beard
scratched your left cheek as he put his head down on your shoulder, letting out a long breath as he
got comfortable.

A long silence followed, Karl preparing himself for what was about to come. You tried to soothe
him.

“Can I do something to make it easier?”

He chuckled weakly and shook his head. “Except keeping your mouth shut so I can pretend I’m not
talking to someone.”

Your brows furrowed and you thought about breaking this whole conversation off, since Karl
clearly wasn’t ready for it yet. As if reading your mind, one finger lifted up to lay against your lips,
silently telling you to stay quiet and just listen. He was determent to do this right now.

“My family,” He started off with, “Originally came from Germany. If my name didn’t already tell
you that, now you know.”

“I was around six years old I think when it happened. I lived with my parents, in a small German
town far away from here. I vaguely knew that my family had some roots to this village, the
Heisenberg factory being built here, but well, I was six and couldn’t give less of a shit about it all.”

“I was fast asleep in my bed when…”

He cut off and you felt the hair on his arms standing up, his breath shaking, his legs tensing up.

“…there was a shrill scream that woke me up. I remember my heart beating so hard in my chest I
thought I’d throw up as I got up and ran towards my door. My childhood home was always so
warm and bright, but that night it felt frigid and dark. I knew something was off and went to search
for my mother.”

“All my life up to this point, she’d always been there to protect me from the world. A bee sting?
Not a problem. A broken arm? She’d fix it, don’t you worry. She was one hell of a woman when it
came to protecting me.”

He squeezed you tighter, almost to the point of hurt but you let him.

“But when I went downstairs, she could no longer help me.”

You shivered as you felt your shoulder started getting wet, Heisenberg's tears dampening your shirt.
He didn’t sob, he didn’t even sniffle, he was holding himself together as best he could. Even now
when he was shielded by the darkness, he didn’t want to show the vulnerability he had.

“I found her fucking dead in the living room, Y/N. To this day, whenever I try to think of her face
all I can see is her dead body as blood pooled on the floor beneath her head. I cried for my father,
but he never came. I’m pretty sure he was dead too, but I can’t be sure because I couldn’t look for
him. She was already there.”

His voice changed from one plagued with sorrow to one filled with venom.

“I was crying over my dead parents when that bitch came out of nowhere! I felt an ice-cold hand
touch my shoulder and I was sure I was next in line. Miranda acted like she was my saviour that
night, told me she heard my cries and would help me get somewhere safe. She probably thought I
was too young and stupid to see the blood on her hands and realize what she’d done.”

“I tried to get away, I really did, but what can a fucking kid do when a six-winged woman was
chasing after you?! She grabbed me, put something in my mouth and I was out like a light in mere
seconds…I never got to say goodbye to my old home, my family. I struggle to even remember what
my room looked like, let alone the rest of the house.”
You tried to stay silent as he had asked you to, but you couldn’t hold the broken sobs in any longer.
You grabbed one of his hands he had on your belly and brought it up to your lips, kissing it in an
effort to give him at least a little bit of comfort.

It took a moment for him to find his voice again.

“Then I woke up in her lab. It was a dungeon really. Despite knowing she was dead, I still cried for
my mother. I begged for her to come and get me, I couldn’t accept the fact that she was dead. And
then Miranda came in, smiling at me like she didn’t just murder my family and kidnapped me. She
told me she’s my new mother and I actually threw up at her words. She really expected me to just
accept that, didn’t see the damn big issue.”

“And then the experiments came. It hurt so fucking much, the way she ripped me open, not even
waiting for me to be entirely knocked out to place the Cadou inside my body. I was a damn child,
how could a grieving mother do something like this to someone else's kid?”

“But the worst of it came when I showed to be a success, at first anyway. God, the woman that
killed my real mother coddled me up and told me I’d be sacrificed so she could have her own
daughter back! What kind of fucked up situation is that?!”

His laugh was hollow and clearly fake. How could it be sincere?

“But in the end, she deemed me another failure. Do you want to know what I thought when she told
me that? I thought ‘Maybe now she’ll finally kill me’ and fuck I wasn’t as happy in a long time as I
was just then. I was fucking happy to die. What a fucked-up thing to be happy about as a six-year-
old.”

“But since I’m still here, you can take a good guess and say she didn’t kill me. Instead, she forced
me into this family she had built for herself, made me a Lord of this village and stuck me into this
factory. And at first, I was glad for it all. Because I was naïve and thought the others, who had gone
through the same shit I had been, could be my allies against Mother Miranda. Big fucking
mistake.”

“They worship the fucking toilet she shits in! They are thankful for what she had done to them!
And I still don’t get why. Since the Cadou also turned me into a sort of immortal and stopped my
ageing at one point, I’ve lost count of how many decades I’ve been stuck here. But from that day
when I took my first step into this factory, I swore I’d one day get my revenge for all she had forced
me through. Someday, I’ll kill her.”

He swallowed thickly, taking deep breaths in a failed attempt to calm down.

“The rest of my life up until now was just that; Act like I adore Mother Miranda, become her
favourite just so she would get off my back, while secretly being her greatest enemy. I grew up in
the darkness of this factory, alone and…lonely.”

Silence fell afterwards, making the air around you heavy. There wasn’t anything even remotely
sensible you could say after hearing all that. It was all laid in the open now and what you feared
most about his past came true; There wasn’t much of a life before Miranda for him. The whole
Cadou stuff was a traumatizing thing to deal with even as an adult, let alone a child. How could
Miranda do something like that? She who had lost a child of her own was more than willing to take
one from another mother.
You already hated Mother Miranda for what she did to you, but the more he told you about
everything she had done, the more you wanted to end her yourself. The thought scared you at first,
because you never thought you’d think about killing another human being. But that’s just it, isn’t it?
Miranda couldn’t be human, instead she was a monster from the deepest of nightmares.

The long silence had also affected Heisenberg, he started to pull away, thinking he had disturbed
you so deeply you couldn’t utter a single word to him. Almost as a reflex, your hold of his arms
around you tightened, your nails digging into his skin.

“Let me help you.”

You desperately wanted for him to turn the lights back on, just so he could see the determination in
your eyes.

“What? You mean-“

You cut him off, voice stronger this time. “I want to help you kill her.”

A dark chuckle filled the void, his arms squeezing you. “You sure you’re up for that?”

You knew he was teasing, but behind it was a serious question. In a blink, you had turned around in
his embrace, pushing him over so you could straddle him. It all happened so fast he let out a
displeased grunt, but letting you quiet him with a harsh kiss that he answered eagerly. Even in the
dark, you were sure he could tell how serious you meant your next words.

“Let’s fucking kill that bitch together.”

His hands grabbed your hips roughly, a deep growl filling the room. “That’s the most romantic shit
I’ve ever heard.”

The two of you sealed the deal with another bruising kiss.
 The Alliance
Chapter Notes

TW: Sexual content.

Guys, I just saw a fan-comic about Moreau comissioning Donna to make him a Mother
Miranda doll that he uses to tell himself she loves him! My poor little heart.

Later on, when Heisenberg turned the lights back on, he looked like nothing at all had happened.
His mask of cockiness was back on, no signs left of the tears he had shed earlier. You didn’t bring it
up, just smiled, even if you knew he could see the last little tears roll down your cheek.

He gently swiped them away with his thumb, placing a kiss on your forehead. “Come on, I’ll show
you what I’ve been working on.”

The gears on the door turned again, opening the way for you to go through. Despite knowing that
Karl was right behind you, you hesitated to go. You still feared the creatures that he had created and
your eyes scanned the area, praying none of them are near anymore. You were tense, jumping
slightly when you felt Karls warmth near your back.

“Are you okay?”

You sighed, stepping further back until he was right at your back. “Are there any of those drill-
people around?”

Karl snickered, putting his hands on your shoulders, rubbing them. He probably wanted to calm
you with the touch, but his hands were a touch too harsh. “Those drill-people are called Soldats.
And yeah, they roam around the lower levels of the factory and keep guard. But I did a little
upgrade on them; They know better than to try and harm you now.”

You frowned, not fully believing that. But you snapped out of that mindset with a slight shake of
your head. You wanted Heisenberg to trust you, so you in turn had to trust him. Your body relaxed
and you began walking ahead, back to the main area.

Karl finally allowed you to take it all in. You felt a little queasy when you went to the railing,
staring down into the depts of the factory, watching the water at the bottom. You thought about all
the horror movies you used to watch and couldn’t help but admit that this place would be a prime
spot to film one. Just above was a sort of conveyor belt, obviously either broken or not finished
being built yet. There were more of them, littering the open space all the way to the very back,
some seemingly working and moving, though without carrying anything. You saw many catwalks
and platforms to the side, one big wheel that seemed to be part of a conveyor belt, but wasn’t
turned on.

In this large open space, the ever-present screeching and rattling of the machines bounced from
wall to wall, adding to the creepy ambient along with the smoke. What was Karl doing down here?
As if hearing your thoughts, Heisenberg stepped up to your side, lighting a cigar as he too let his
eyes roam over his lives work.

“I’m building an army.”

You looked up to him with questioning eyes. “An army?”

He nodded, puffing out smoke. “The Soldats. I’ll use them to start a rebellion one day, fuck
Miranda over.”

“But…okay, don’t get this the wrong way.” You warned him beforehand. “Your Soldats don’t look
like they can stand much of a chance.”

He smirked at you. “Brave words from someone who is terrified of them.”

Karl pinched your cheek playfully when you glared at him. “Well, I can’t really do much to defend
myself now, can I? Miranda can though.”

Heisenberg nodded, hating to have to agree with that. “I know. I’m on track to perfecting them and
I’m planning on building thousands more. We don’t stand a chance against Mother Miranda like
this.”

“So what have you been doing?” You asked.

He grinned wolfishly, pointing your gaze down to a small platform just below. You gasped when
you saw a thin body laying on the ground, apparently dead. Karl pulled his cigar from his mouth,
exhaling the smoke before letting the still-lit cigar drop down and onto the body.

It groaned and started moving, getting up on wobbling legs, one huge axe-like weapon held in a
surprisingly strong grip. It too wore a visor around its head, the red light blinking was almost
menacing.

“That-“ Karl explained, “Is a Hauler, the first result of my own experiments with the Cadou. As
you can see, they’re not really worth much. Too stupid and slow, just enough brainpower left to
keep up with simple commands.”

Admittedly, the Soldats were a step up from the Haulers for sure, but they still wouldn’t cut it.
“Karl, you’ve made some improvements and yes, the Soldats are dangerous, but Miranda would
crush them like bugs under her heel.”

You were starting to piss him off, you knew, but he could get as angry as he wanted, the fact of the
matter was that you were right. He struggled to find a smart retort to that and decided to just cut his
losses, as it were, and change the subject a little.

“I’ve been running into some issues lately. Problem one; The main part I need to build them with
are corpses. Those are harder to come by than one might think. The villagers that are around don’t
really reproduce that well and Miranda will get suspicious if too many went missing at once.”

You cringed at his phrasing, pausing a second. “Wait, hold on…There are actual people living in
the village? Why have I never seen them?!”

Karl regarded you with a smug grin. “The people here aren’t really the type of social butterfly to
say the least, especially when it comes to outsiders like you. They probably hid from you the whole
time.”

Your mouth fell open in disbelieve. All this time when you were running for your life, there were
people around that just watched!? None of them even considered helping you fight the Lycans! You
were so sure the village was abandoned. Karl ignored your rising fury to continue with his
monologue.

“Problem two; The Soldats need a high voltage power to get reanimated. I can’t find a reliable
power source for it, meaning the few corpses I had were already rotten when I managed to get
enough electricity going.”

“And problem three; If we want to have even a single chance at defeating Miranda, we’ll need as
much power and strength as possible. We need thousands of Soldats, better Soldats that can
actually put up a real fight. Putting all of it together will be hard.”

You sighed, rubbing your temples as a headache settles in. You knew defeating Miranda wouldn’t
be easy, so why were you already getting overwhelmed with it all? Maybe because you still felt like
you couldn’t contribute anything. Sure, you would help wherever you could, but the feeling of
being useless hadn’t lessened since discovering your powers. Heisenberg was a genius, his powers
remarkable, what could he even use you for?

“You’re not thinking about backing out already, are you?”

The question brought you back to the here and now, turning to face Karl. “No, I told you I’ll help
you.”

“Good.” Heisenberg had tensed up. “Because there is no backing out anymore, Y/N. If you decide
you don’t want to commit to this, then I’ll have you chained up in the deepest pits of the factory, I
can’t risk Miranda getting wind of this.”

He meant it and you knew it, accepted it even. You nodded, stepping closer to draw him into an
embrace. You sighed happily when he put his arms around you. Somehow, things didn’t seem as
bad anymore when he held you.

“How about I show you the rest of my factory? I’ll give you a map later, we don’t want you to get
lost, do we?”

You chuckled and pressed a kiss to his clothed chest. “Show me what my home really looks like.”

Your words seemed to have an odd effect on Karl. He started giggling like a child that just got
handed the biggest lollipop ever, his arms squeezing the air from your lungs as they seemed to
crush you with how excited he got. A pained wheeze on your end had him back off immediately.

“Holy shit, you alright?”

You rubbed over your ribs, soothing the remaining discomfort and you tried to scowl at him, but the
effect was ruined by your smile. “You’re not gonna break me that easily.”

“Oh, we’ll see.” He fucking winked at you, the smug bastard.

He didn’t bother to let you come up with a retort and just grabbed your hand, pulling you along
deeper into the factory. When you thought the upper floors of the building were confusing, the
lower ones were a literal labyrinth. He guided you through so many rooms and corridors, some
looking so similar to the ones you had already passed through that you thought Heisenberg was
leading you in circles.

He showed you the forge, presenting you with different moulds and the excitement that glimmered
in his eyes when he explained their different uses made you warm and fuzzy all over. Damn, you
were down bad for that man.

It didn’t help that when he explained how hot it got down here and that he was forced to take some
breaks between pouring the liquid metal in its shapes, your mind immediately pictured a topless,
sweating Heisenberg standing by the furnace. Heat of embarrassment coloured your cheeks red and
when Karl pointed it out to you, you simply blamed it on the temperature in the room.

It felt like hours that you two spend walking around, your feet starting to hurt. Whenever you
encountered one of the many Soldats walking around, you did your best to just walk past, acting
like this was a very normal and everyday thing to happen. You got the feeling at one point it might
even be like that.

When you wandered through extra dark sections, you always got a little closer to Karl. Your heart
ached when you imagined little Karl walking alone through these parts. The imagines only
intensified your desire to take Miranda down.

At last, you arrived at the elevator on the lowest floor and when it opened its doors, you were
surprised to see the ever-present smile of the Duke. When had he entered the factory? Karl was
obviously used to it all, stomping the cigar he had lit at some point out on the ground before he got
into the cart.

“Lord Heisenberg and Y/N.” The Duke greeted you both. “What a pleasure to meet once more.
Anything of interest for you in my humble shop?”

Karl smacked his fist against the button for the main floor, his voice irritated. “Nope. Now stay
quiet.”

You crossed your arms over your chest and shook your head with a tired sigh. Typical Heisenberg.

A thought popped into your mind and you looked the merchant up and down, trying to figure out if
it was a safe question to ask him. The Duke gave you another one of his knowing smiles, as if
already prepared for the strange topic you were about to bring up.

“Hey Duke, if I asked you something crazy, you would keep it to yourself, wouldn’t you?”

After all, the Duke said he wasn’t a tattletale. Heisenberg eyed you suspiciously but said nothing,
wanting to see what you were up to.

“Why, of course!” The Duke cheered. “That’s all part of our number one customer service!”

Once more you studied him. He didn’t seem like the type of person to lie, and he also didn’t seem
to have any affiliation with Mother Miranda. As far as you’re aware, she wasn’t even one of his
customers.

You swallowed the lump forming in your throat back down. “Is there any chance of you being able
to get your hands on some…dead bodies?”
Heisenberg's face contorted into so many different emotions so fast that it looked like he just had a
mild stroke, preparing to berate you for your ignorance and stupidity of asking something like that,
only to be stopped by the other man's laugh.

“Oh, yes! That isn’t a hard delivery to make, surprisingly.”

Karl's voice died in his throat before ever making it out of his mouth. You smiled at the merchant,
ignoring the perplexed engineer.

“Fresh ones too?”

The Duke nodded. “Of course. But I do have to say that the freshest ones are required to be
delivered to Lady Dimitrescu. The others you can gladly purchase from me and if they are too old
for your liking, Lord Moreau will surely take them off my hands as well.”

You hummed in thought, holding your hand out for him to shake if he wished for it. “Deal. I’ll
come back to you when I need them.”

The Duke shook your hand firmly. “Great, we shall discuss the prices on that occasion.”

The elevator stopped, the doors opening to reveal the hallway you were used to seeing. “Perfect!
I’ll see you around Duke.”

“It’s a pleasure to do business with you, Y/N!”

Karl was still struggling to comprehend what had just happened and staggered after you, only to be
stopped when the Duke called after him.

“Lord Heisenberg! If I’m not mistaken, then I saw a crow waiting for you at the front door.”

The doors closed, leaving the two of you alone once more. You gently tapped Karl on his shoulder
to bring him back from his stunned haze. An uneasiness had settled on your chest.

“Are you mad at me?”

“Mad?” He repeated, huffing out a dry laugh. “I was about ready to throw you back down the
elevator shaft! How on earth did you think of this?”

You raised an eyebrow at him, feeling smug. “You mean to tell me you never thought to ask the
supernatural merchant of the town about getting corpses? Even Moreau thought of that.”

He gave you a warning snarl. “Don’t get fucking smart with me, sweetheart.”

You smirked, it’s been a while since he used a pet name on you. To get him back into a slightly
better mood, you kissed his cheek, watching his face soften afterwards. “The important thing is one
of our problems is solved. Let’s go check the front door now.”

“Alright, let’s go see what the crow wants.”

You walked to the main doors, Heisenberg using his powers to open them. Right in front of them,
partially hidden in the tall grass, was a crow, holding a letter in its beak. It was a curious sight,
definitely.
Karl snatched the letter and ripped it away from the bird, who screamed in protest of the rough
gesture. Heisenberg didn’t bother to listen to it, pulling the doors closed and shutting it out.

“Urgh, what does Miranda want now?” He grumbled under his breath, opening the letter while
simultaneously walking towards his room. You followed him quietly.

His mood got worse and worse and by the time you reached your room, he was annoyed.

“Another damn meeting tomorrow. Said it’s important, what the hell is she up to again?”

You took the letter out of his hands, bringing it up to your face to read it for yourself.

“Dear children, I apologize for the short notice, but I have some important news I wish to share
with you all. Meeting tomorrow at noon at Castle Dimitrescu.”

Surprisingly, the first thing you said was: “How nice of her to just invite herself into Lady
Dimitrescu's home like that.”

Karl rolled his eyes. “How nice of you, to care about my dear sister like that.”

“Well, it is pretty rude.” You put on a slight pout.

“I’ll add it to the list of things why Miranda is a bitch.” He chuckled, leaning in to kiss the pout
away.

You sighed into the kiss, letting the letter drop to the floor, not caring anymore. Karl's hands went
to your hips, pushing you backwards in the direction of the bed, following you down when you fell
on top of it. Your hand rubbed up against his chest, pushing just a tad bit for him to get the hint to
pull away so you could speak. He accepted your unspoken request but couldn’t hold back a quiet
grunt.

You fluttered your eyelashes up at him. “It’s been a long day for you. Would you like a back
massage? I’ll make sure to get you nice and relaxed.”

“Eager to get your hands on me, I see.” He teased and went back in for another kiss.

When this time you parted, he had an uncertain look in his eyes. He looked like he was
contemplating about voicing a different idea and by the light blush over his cheeks, you knew it
was an intimate one, something you hadn’t done before.

“Actually, would you mind…” He trailed off for a second, looking to the side before finding the
courage to ask. “Could I instead massage you?”

The question took you aback, he’d never offered that before. He enjoyed it whenever you offered
such things, but always seemed hesitant to reciprocate, which you didn’t mind. It was nice being
able to take care of him like that, make him feel good and safe.

“If you’re sure that that’s what you want, I’m more than willing.”

His voice apparently failed him as he simply nodded eagerly, avoiding direct eye contact. You
pushed yourself up and out of bed, walking over to the bathroom to retrieve some oil Bela had
gifted you as a joke a few weeks ago. Well, jokes on her, you were actually using it.
You handed him the small vial. You were both nervous about this, but you knew if you showed him
just how nervous, he would lose his bravery and slip away. So instead, you acted like this wasn’t a
big thing to happen at all, simply taking off your shirt and bra before laying down on your stomach.

You waited patiently for him to decide how he wanted to situate himself. Whenever you gave him a
back rub, you’d straddle his hips and sit on his lower back, giving you access to every inch of his
skin. He was unsure at first, but gave the position a go, settling on your lower back, being careful to
not put all of his weight on you.

The feeling of him on your body in such a way spurred a familiar heat to built-in your lower
abdomen, arousal making itself known. You willed it away, this wasn’t the time for that.

Karl opened the vial and poured a generous amount of its contents into the palm of his hands,
rubbing them together and then laid both hands on your skin. Goosebumps erupted right away and
you eased deeper into the mattress, a soft sigh of satisfaction leaving your lips as he began working
on your body.

His hands, unsure at first, found a rhythm, kneading your flesh like he was preparing dough to put
in the oven later on and just like being in that metaphorical oven, you melted underneath his hands.
Your noises of pleasure and contentment filled Heisenberg's ears, soaking up every little sound you
made. And they had started to affect him in a way he hadn’t anticipated when he offered to massage
you.

It was subtle at first. Karl shifted his weight around, and at first you assumed he was just trying to
get more comfortable. But then, you felt a hardness press against you, something that wasn’t there
before and you realized what he was trying to do. This new intimacy didn’t arouse just you.

You could tell he was hoping desperately that you didn’t notice as he tried to rub himself against
you in slow movements, wanting to please the ache that had settled in his groin but also wanting to
avoid grossing you out.

A slickness began building between your legs after a few minutes, Karls ache suddenly affecting
you too and you were thinking about how to go about this. Would he back off if you pointed it out?
Should you just continue acting like his growing bulge escaped your attention?

Faced with your turmoil, you weren’t prepared when he kneaded a particularly tense knot away
from your shoulder and your back arched somewhat, a loud groan leaving your lips. Your hips
rolled up to meet his in a flush of independence, his body coming to a freezing halt, now knowing
you were aware of the state he was in.

You knew you needed to act fast or else he’ll lose it. You pushed yourself up on your elbows,
craning your neck and turning your head to look at him. You knew your face was flushed, lips
slightly parted as soft pants left through the gap. You wiggled your hips against his, hoping he’d get
the hint that he was allowed to continue, if he wanted to. Damn, you hoped he wanted to.

Heisenberg's face was flushed too, more than you had ever seen, and his brows were knitted
together with the strain of holding himself back, a quiet moan pushing through his resistance when
you moved your hips. He rolled his hips experimentally, your answering moan being enough to
convince him.

The massage was long forgotten when he bent over your body, holding himself up with his arms as
he began rubbing his groin against your butt, almost shy at first, only to get more intense when you
pressed your hips up to meet him.

Your lips reunited in a heated kiss, hot breaths mingling as he rutted against you, his pants and belt
catching on the creases of your body ever so slightly. You couldn’t help yourself, an obscene moan
leaving your throat as one of your hands reached underneath and into your pants to stimulate your
aching bud through your soaked underwear.

He caught the movement of your arm, realizing what you were doing and he groaned your name in
a silent plea, his thrust speeding up. His arms began to tremble with the effort of holding himself up
and he dropped down against your writing body, hips never ceasing their movements.

He hid his face against your neck, whispering broken apologies into your skin. With your free hand,
you reached behind and into his hair, stroking it and telling him he was doing so well, and that it
was fine, encouraging him further.

Both his hands reached underneath you, cupping your breasts and rubbing your nipples between his
fingers. Your bodies grew restless, him humping you like his life depended on it and you moaning
his name as your orgasm hit.

Karls didn’t take too long after that, your body shaking with overstimulation as he still caressed
your tits, until he came with a grunt, his body spasming against yours, riding the wave of pleasure
for as long as he could bear.

He completely slumped against you, hot air hitting the sensitive skin of your neck with every
exhale of his. Your hands moved to lay over his that still cupped your bust, holding them close as if
to make sure he couldn’t leave.

“Fuck, the state our underwear must be in right now.”

Loud and light laughter filled the awkward silence, Karls comment all too true. The embarrassed
and flustered giggles only quieted when you kissed him once more.
 Some Quiet Time

Come next morning, Karl and you had slept in, choosing to be lazy and just stay in bed until the
meeting at noon.

You were happily draped over Heisenberg, your head resting on his chest and one of your hands
gently caressing the skin of his shoulder. It was the first time you two had slept in the company of
the other in a state of undress, neither of you carrying enough to change into some sleepwear after
yesterdays intimate exchange. Instead, you both just shed your dirty clothes of the day but chose to
change out the ruined underwear.

It looked like you were both thinking about just sleeping completely nude, but you felt a bit
uncomfortable about sleeping that way already. You got the feeling that your naked bodies pressed
together all night would lead to more and you weren’t ready for that yet.

Many new things had already taken place yesterday; The backstory to Karl, you agreeing to join his
rebellion and then your first sexual encounter with him. It was overwhelming enough, actual sex
needed to wait.

Karl was understanding, didn’t even tease you for it like you thought he would. Yesterday had
changed the dynamic of your relationship, you joining him and already helping him get a step
closer to his freedom had opened him up more, he looked less suspicious around you. You
definitely didn’t think it was to the point of full trust yet, but it was progress.

“You got amazing tits by the way.” Karl's voice was deep and rough with sleep, his chuckle
genuine.

You playfully nipped at one of his pecks, making him jump a little. “Thanks, you too.”

His chest bounced you up and down as he laughed, his arms around you pulling you in closer, his
lips pressing against the top of your head.

“If you like biting that much you may have more in common with my sister than we thought.”

You swatted his arm, pushing yourself up so you could look him in the eyes. “Says the man that bit
my neck so she’d leave me alone.”

He shrugged, joking on. “Maybe biting runs in the family.”

You both cringed a little at the thought, which in turn led to more laughter. You wanted to stay in
this moment forever, have him frozen in this happy little moment for the rest of time. But time
moved forward as it always did and you had to force the both of you to get up and start getting
ready.

You took a shower and in the time afterwards, when Karl had his turn, you were getting dressed.
Both of you dreaded not only having to attend the meeting, but also stepping foot into that castle
again. You were wondering what Mother Miranda was going to tell you.

Knowing that Karl still had a while in the shower, you went to his workstation to retrieve the
notebook, putting it in the inside of your jacket so you could hand it back to Moreau later. You also
took Heisenberg's hat and glasses back up with you. Karl would probably throw the notes into a
furnace if you left them, but you promised Moreau to give them back to him.

You felt guilty about lying to Heisenberg about how you got the notes. On the way back to your
shared room, you decided to come clean about it. You got the feeling that you could convince Karl
to not go after Moreau and you would do everything you could to make sure you kept your
promise.

Karl was busy getting dressed when you walked in, turning to grin at you. “Where have you gone
off to?”

He didn’t seem as put off about you leaving, which you noted in the back of your mind. You
presented him with the notebook, watching his smile fade and turn into a grimace.

“I need to tell you the truth.” You said, looking at him with guilt in your eyes. “Moreau noticed I
was bothered by something and I told him that I was wondering about your past. He gave me the
notebook so I could read it.”

Karls heated gaze went from the book to your face. “So, you were lying to me.”

You sighed heavily, nodding. “Yes, because Moreau was scared you’d come to hunt him down. I
promised him I’d take the blame.”

Heisenberg was cross with you, and you couldn’t blame him for that. “I’m sorry for lying, but
please don’t go after Moreau. It was my idea and you know how he is when confronted and under
pressure.”

Karl nodded slowly, mulling over how to react to it all. But in the end, he sighed, his impending
anger leaving with the exhale.

“I’m pissed that you lied to me, but again, you would’ve found out about it all one way or another
and I’m glad that it happened how it did. I also appreciate you coming forth with the truth now.”

He pulled you into his arms. “I also get why you lied. I know I’m not exactly…a friendly person.”

“You are to me.” You said, kissing his cheek. “And you’re allowed to be angry at me for lying. I
promise I will always be honest with you from now on.”

He sighed and leaned in to kiss you properly. “If you tell anyone I’m nice to you, I’ll kill you.”

“You know, you made that threat so many times, I’m starting to think you mean that in a romantic
way.”

With a smirk, he raised his hand and brought it down on your left buttcheek, making you yelp.
“You’re getting a little mouthy, I think I might be a bad influence on you.”

You giggled, a flush spreading over your face and you rubbed over the sore spot. You knew there
was still some tension left in him from your confession, but when compared to how he would have
exploded at you just over a month ago, this was a big improvement. Maybe you two started rubbing
off on each other instead.

Heisenberg stepped away, grabbing his hat and glasses that you had discarded on the table
sometime during your talk. His hammer rested against a wall in the corner of the room and he
called it into his hand, swinging it up to drape over his shoulders leisurely.

“Alright, ready to go?”

You nodded, smoothing down his coat before leaning up and kissing him. “Yeah. Thank you for
accepting my apology.”

Another shared kiss and then you took off towards castle Dimitrescu. Your stomach grumbled on
the way over and you wondered if the castle had any not-made-of-human kind of food and if
perhaps Lady Dimitrescu would be willing to give you some. Karl heard the noises of hunger from
your body.

“Why didn’t you grab a bite at the factory? You know Alcina won’t give you shit.”

You exhaled loudly, overdramatically. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

“How highly irresponsible of you to just not eat.” Karl tutted at you, teasing. “And now I need to
save you from starvation!”

You rolled your eyes at him but didn’t counter his argument when he started walking towards the
Duke's cart at the Altar. He bought you a meal called Ciorba de Porc and you ate the warm food for
the rest of the walk over to the castle, your hunger sated when you arrived.

It didn’t escape you how Karls body got more and more pent up the closer you got and when you
arrived at the huge door, he was already seething with anger. You grabbed his hand and gave it a
gentle squeeze, which he returned with a bit more strength, control slipping. You knew you
couldn’t do more but stay at his side.

You walked through the front door and both of you let out a groan when already, you could hear the
Lady of the houses booming voice, roaring through the halls. Great, she too was already pissed,
meaning when she saw Karl and you, it would ensure a shouting match from the two.

You followed her voice until arriving at the dining room, where the large Lady was currently busy
yelling at her other brother.

“You imbecile!” Lady Dimitrescu towered over Moreau. “My dungeons are flooded!”

Moreau cowered away, looking near tears. “I-I had to drain the lake! It was overflowing with the r-
rain!”

Heisenberg let his hammer drop to the floor, a heavy thud grabbing the attention of the other two.
Lady Dimitrescu's fiery gaze snapped to you in a second and you gulped as now it was your turn to
get yelled at.

“You! I will slice you to ribbons if you do not get a hold over your powers soon!”

You flinched back when she approached, fear making your stomach drop. Karl immediately
shielded you from her rage, taking a protective stance between you two.

“Shut your hole! It’s just fucking water!”

Her yellow eyes went to Heisenberg, scoffing. “Just water? Do you have any idea how ruined my
dress was when the floors were suddenly flooded?!”
She turned back to you. “What emotion causes rain!?”

You were afraid to speak, voice small. “U-Usually sadness, or something like it.”

“Then how about you don’t act like a cry-baby!” She grit her teeth, looking back at Heisenberg.
“Or how about you have just a hint of concern for your siblings and stop making her cry!”

Heisenberg was taken aback a little at her comment, not liking her implication that he was the
reason behind it all. Technically she wasn’t wrong, you thought, as you put the pieces together and
remembered you crying heavily when Heisenberg told you about his past. But that wasn’t his fault.

“Okay, listen here!” You stepped around him, squaring up to the nine-foot vampire, which just
looked ridiculous given the size difference. “Maybe I was upset because the thought of coming into
your disgusting home was enough to make me nauseous!”

You enjoyed the offended and clearly shocked gasp that left the other woman, not having expected
you to defend not only yourself, but Heisenberg as well. Lady Dimitrescu composed herself, ready
to make her threat real when the doors opened once more, Mother Miranda walking in with Donna
and Angie close behind.

“Silence, all of you! Why is it that I can never leave you alone without you fighting?”

Lady Dimitrescu stepped away from Heisenberg and you, scowling at being called out by their
leader. “I’m sorry, Mother Miranda. I’m just distressed about the state of my castle because that
wench can’t control herself.”

Heisenberg was about to retort, but you grabbed his forearm as a warning to stop. Mother Miranda
was already annoyed, it wouldn’t help if he doubled down.

“Alcina, I expect you to hold yourself together better. The weather was calmer for a while, Y/N had
clearly tried her best. Your dungeons shall be dry soon enough.”

Mother Miranda's voice left no space for arguments and you felt joy at seeing Lady Dimitrescu
knocked down like that. The feeling didn’t last long though, as you hated that Mother Miranda was
defending you. She simply didn’t have the right to act like she cared after everything she had done.

“Children, take a seat.” Miranda ordered and everyone did as she said, Karl sitting extra close to
your side at the table, eyeing Alcina from behind his dark lenses.

“I shall come straight to the point, I still have much work to do.” Mother Miranda said. “I will be
gone for a few months.”

The surprise was written over everyone's faces, even on Angie's porcelain one. Moreau spoke up
first.

“B-But Mother, why?”

She regarded him for a moment, the hint of a smile hidden behind her mask before she addressed
all attendees once more.

“As you surely remember, a little over two and a half years ago I was contacted and formed an
alliance with a group called ‘The Connections’. We’ve built a research team and with a sample of
the megamycete, we were able to create the E-Series, also known as Eveline.”
Her words didn’t make any sense to you, and you hated her arrogance or simple ignorance of that
fact. Karl spoke up.

“Yeah, yeah. The little bioweapon that died somewhere in Louisiana, what about it?”

Lady Dimitrescu looked near fainting with how mad she was at him speaking in such a chill
manner about whatever this topic was about.

“That’s what we thought.” Miranda continued, cutting Alcina off before she even had a chance to
speak ill to Heisenberg. “It turns out, Eveline didn’t die when the ship crashed. A family had found
her and a part of the team that acted as her caretakers and they had taken them in. Eveline, who
could’ve become part of my family, found one of her own. The whole Baker family is now infected
with her gift, and I need to take a look at it all. Study it, it might help with reviving Eva.”

The Lords were quiet for a while, even Angie didn’t speak. You wiggled in your seat,
uncomfortable with the awkward silence and the fact that nothing made sense to you.

“So, when do you presume you’ll re-join us, Mother Miranda?” Lady Dimitrescu had lit a long
cigarette, holding it elegantly between her fingers.

“I do not know,” Miranda answered. “But my absence is not a reason for your everyday activities to
change. I expect you all to continue with your own experiments and that when I come back, all of
your heads are still connected to your bodies.”

A crude way of saying; Don’t kill each other just because I’m not here. Karl relaxed in his seat,
lighting one of his cigars, the heavy smoke enveloping his face.

“While you’re gone, is one of us going to be in charge? Y’know, make sure everyone is behaving.”

“If so, little brother, it certainly won’t be you or your little pet!” Lady Dimitrescu spat out with
venom.

Mother Miranda sighed, already getting up from her seat. “No. You’ll all continue to reign over
your own territories and you will respect your fellow Lords.”

In a rather rude move, Mother Miranda vanished without another word in a flash of black feathers,
leaving the Lords and you behind in stunned silence.

Finally, Angie spoke up. “Well, isn’t that interesting!”

Her shrill voice had everyone come back from their thoughts. It was weird for this family to be so
quiet and you couldn’t help but notice that Moreau looked close to tears once again.

“D-Do you think Mommy will make Eveline her special child?”

The question had the others look at him sharply, as if even asking that was forbidden. You looked at
Karl, who in turn gave you a quick glance before refocusing on Moreau.

“Nah. Too far gone.”

Lady Dimitrescu sighed, her anger at both Heisenberg and you apparently forgotten for now. “I hate
to agree with Heisenberg, but I don’t think Mother Miranda will take her in. If Eveline really
survived that accident and had built a family of her own, I don’t think our Mother would fight her
to agree to her terms.”

“Eveline is too unpredictable anyway.” Donna put in quietly, Angie nodding in agreement.

“I’m sorry.” You interrupted, having had enough of being in the dark. “What the hell does all of this
mean?”

“None of your business.” Karl out of all the people at the table told you.

You looked at him with disappointment, fearing that he was actually still mad at you and just
having it sit there until now when you’d upset him. But behind the glasses, since you two were
close enough, you saw him wink. It clicked into place then, he was putting on a show for the others,
make it look like he was still keeping you in check. You assumed he’ll tell you later.

You joined in on it, nodding your head before lowering it submissively. “Yes, Lord Heisenberg.”

Alcina snickered at the display, taking another drag from her cigarette. “Well, well. I didn’t think
your little pet was trainable, Heisenberg.”

“Just gotta give them the right treats, dear sister.” He answered, grinning up at her before licking
his lips in a suggestive way.

Angie broke out into manic laughter and you thought you saw Donna's shoulders shake lightly as
well, while Moreau was openly chuckling. Meanwhile, your cheeks heated up, but you couldn’t
hold back your own amusement when Lady Dimitrescu shot up from her chair with enough force to
knock it over.

“First your pet makes inappropriate commends to my innocent daughter!” She steps closer, walking
around the table. “And then you dare to say them to my face, in my house no less!?”

“To be fair, your daughters aren’t innocent and you’re just too easy to piss off.” Karl shot back,
getting up from his seat and grabbing your arm, making you do the same.

While the siblings started throwing some more insults at one another, each more colourful than the
last, you stepped closer to Moreau, discreetly tapping his arm. The Lord looked at you and you take
the notebook out from your jacket, handing it back over with a calm smile. He looked surprised as
he took it back into his possession.

“Y/N, we’re leaving!” Heisenberg grabbed your arm once more, dragging you with him with one
hand while the other was pulling his hammer along the floor, leaving scratches behind on the
pristine floor.

You two didn’t stick around to hear her continuing to throw obscenities at your heads. You giggled
like teenagers that just pranked their teacher, stumbling out of the castle in a haste, not waiting until
Lady Dimitrescu sends her daughters after you.

“Which fucking daughter did you piss off?” Karl laughed, his cigar hanging loosely on his lips.
“You didn’t tell me you said something naughty to them.”

You frowned for a moment, sure you had told him but then remembering not actually doing so
because that was on the day of his big outburst.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you.” You laughed, the cold air making your breath fog up. “Cassandra
was trying to fuck with me, so I told her you do amazing stuff with your tongue.”

The look Karl gave you could only be described as proud. “Now that’s my pet.”

You groaned at him. “Don’t call me that, it’s bad enough that it's Lady Dimitrescu's nickname for
me.”

He snickered, dismissing the notion. You were walking through the village, with you trying to catch
a glimpse of a villager that Karl had mentioned were still around, but to no avail.

“I do have to say though.” Heisenberg stumped out his cigar, letting his hammer float beside him.
“She does have a point. You really should try and get more control over your power.”

“…I know.” You answered reluctantly. You haven’t even tried to do anything about the
unpredictable gift you’ve received. To be fair, you were busy building a relationship with
Heisenberg, which is rather time-consuming.

You had lowered your head, ashamed of your uselessness once again, but Karl laid a finger under
your chin, lifting your face up to meet his.

“I don’t say this to make you upset.” He clarified, Alcina's words from earlier still lingering in his
head. “But it’s important that you get as powerful as possible for the inevitable showdown.”

As you continued walking, he began to explain what the whole meeting was about.

“Almost three years ago, some people caught wind of Mirandas plan to revive her daughter using
the megamycete, which is a fungus that originated from this village. It’s the reason we’re all the
way that we are. Miranda joined the researchers and together they created Eveline, an unassuming
little girl with the power of a God.”

Your brows knitted together. “That sounds horrible.”

“Wait until you hear the rest.” Karl remarked, continuing on.

“To create Eveline, they used some of this mold and a sample of Evas DNA, putting it all together
when Eveline was in an embryonic state. She was a great success, having the ability to control
peoples minds, and she was supposed to be used as a bioweapon, ending wars without having to
engage in the fight at all. But Eveline had her own mind, she wanted to have a real family. She was
on a ship, supervised by some caretakers but the ship broke down somewhere in Louisiana and
when Miranda searched for her, Eveline was nowhere to be found and presumed dead.”

“But she isn’t dead after all.” You hummed, taking in this new information. “And she has infected a
random family that tried to help her, making them her own.”

“Apparently.” Karl agreed, using his powers to open up the factory gates. “And though I hate to
admit it, Moreau has a point. I really don’t think it is likely, but if Miranda tries to use Eveline as
the vessel for Eva, then we’re fucked.”

You had thought about this before but were too afraid of the answer to actually ask. “When
Miranda has a viable vessel for Eva…She’s going to get rid of us all, isn’t she?”
Heisenberg paused at the huge doors, shoulders tensing and relaxing a few times. “…That’s what I
suspect. What use does she have for us when she reached her goal otherwise?”

You stepped closer to him, your hand coming to rest on the small of his back. “So, we need to kill
her before she gets to that point.”

Despite none of it being funny, he chuckled, probably to hide the fact that he was scared of this all
going wrong. “Exactly.”
 The Crow Leaves The Nest
Chapter Notes

Once again, thank you so much for your support!

A week later, all the villagers assembled at the Maiden of War statue to pay their respects to Mother
Miranda and sending her off with a farewell.

The four Lords towered over them all on a survey, you of course right next to Karl. It was weird,
seeing the inhabitants of this place that you had assumed to be abandoned, dropping to their knees
to worship Mother Miranda.

You wanted to grimace and scoff, hating the devotion those people had for her, but you put on a
mask of nonchalance instead. The villagers saw you for the first time, it was as much about
Miranda leaving as about the new figure in the family. Heisenberg made sure to shape you up for
the occasion, telling you to act humble and grateful to be there at all. You hated it.

“I thank you for your wishes.” Miranda addressed the crowd. “I shall miss you all and will return as
soon as possible. Most of all, I will miss my dear children.”

With that, she gracefully walked over to where you five were standing. She approached Lady
Dimitrescu first, taking her hands in her own and rubbing over them lovingly.

Donna received a hug, poor little Angie getting squished between them, not that Miranda cared.

When she got to Moreau, he was wiggling in his stance, leaning into the hand that petted his head
like a puppy.

Karl was tensing up the closer she got to either of you but did great in hiding it. Mother Miranda
laid her hand over his cheek, cradling his face the same way you did sometimes and the thought
alone was enough to set you off.

Heisenberg discreetly pinched your side when distantly some thunder could be heard. You
composed yourself, holding your chin up when Mother Miranda came to you.

She took your head in both her hands, dragging you forward and tipping your head down so she
could kiss your forehead.

It was all a big show and you wanted to scream it into the smiling faces of the townsfolk that
clapped happily at the display of a loving family. You had to give it to Miranda, she was very good
at deception.

Mother Miranda turned back to her devotees as they chanted a prayer for her.

“Great ones, hear our voice, together as one in reverence. We call on thee within the endless dark
to deliver us into fate's hands. As the midnight moon rises on black wings, so we make our sacrifice
and await the light at the end. In life and in death, we give glory, Mother Miranda.”

Afterwards, Miranda made a big show of disappearing into a cloud of black feathers, the
wonderous gasps of her followers ringing in your ears. You had stepped closer to Karl,
subconsciously seeking his warmth as the crowd started to disassemble, but not without everyone
staring at you like you’re a new circus attraction.

You also noticed some flushed glances from a few women, solely directed at Karl, who couldn’t
care less. Not that he even noticed them.

Lady Dimitrescu was the first to take her leave, not even allowing you the dignity of a goodbye as
she just turned and walked off towards the castle.

Donna, Angie and Moreau took their leave soon after, leaving you in the sole company of the only
man you wanted to be with.

Karl slung his hammer over his shoulder, lighting a cigar with his other hand. “Come on, I want to
wash her hand from my face.”

You scoffed, arms crossing over your chest. “You’re complaining? She kissed my forehead.”

He rolled his eyes at you. “It’s not a competition, sweetheart. We’re both sore losers in her game.”

You hummed in agreement, following him as he took off in the direction of the factory. It seems
like since Mother Miranda had officially introduced you as a member of her family, the people
living in the village didn’t hide from your sight anymore.

It was very weird, seeing those once empty streets suddenly bustling with people. You knew some
Lycans were still about and you wondered why none of them were attacking anyone. Maybe the
Lycans only go after outsiders?

You nearly smacked into Karls back as he abruptly stopped. You looked around him to see what
was going on. A middle-aged woman in a dark dress stood in Karls path, head casted towards the
ground. In her hands, she was holding out a plate of what appeared to be some cookies and biscuits.

“Forgive me for approaching you, Lord Heisenberg.” The woman spoke calmly. “But I haven’t
been able to cross your path for a while. I bring these as an offering and a thank you for your
protection.”

Karl was looking down at the woman, a slight snarl on his lips. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks but I don’t
need those erm…”

“Luiza, my Lord.” The woman answered for him and you could tell Karl did recognize her by her
name.

“Oh yeah.” He looked over to you, raising an eyebrow. “Do you want some?”

Luiza looked up at you with a smile, clearly excited at the prospect of offering the new member of
the community something to welcome them with.

You hesitated. “If it’s alright with you, ma’am. I’m not one of your Lords after all.”

Luiza held the plate closer to you. “Of course, of course! Take as many as you’d like.”
You reached out and took a few pieces, holding them in one hand while the other brought one to
your mouth to taste. You hummed happily at the flavours that coated your tongue.

“Those taste amazing!” You turned to address Karl. “You really should try those.”

A curious look overcame Luiza's features for a second as she watched the interaction between you
two, but it was replaced with her calm smile once more as Karl reached out and took one cookie as
well.

“Okay, not bad.” Heisenberg agreed, speaking with his mouth full, crumbs getting stuck in his
beard. You had the urge to reach up and remove them but resisted.

Luiza bowed down and stepped aside so you could pass. “Thank you, Lord Heisenberg.”

Karl didn’t bother for niceties and just walked off, while you still gave Luiza a little wave before
sprinting to catch up with him.

You walked silently side by side for a while, you munching on the remaining goodies from Luiza
while Karl seemed to be deep in his thoughts. The frown on his face deepened with every passing
minute and you started to worry.

“Hey, are you okay? You look angry.”

Heisenberg sighed, reaching up and under his sunglasses to rub his tired eyes. “It’s nothing. Just
thinking about ways to make the most out of Mother Miranda's absence.”

“Meaning?” You prodded further.

“Meaning,” Karl repeated, “how we could improve our army in the most efficient way.”

You nodded in understanding, humming thoughtfully. “You got any ideas?”

“No.” He hissed the word like venom on his tongue, making you pause.

“Karl, getting pissy about it won’t make it better.” You said firmly.

Heisenberg stopped walking, giving you his full attention. “Do you have an idea then, misses I
know everything!?”

You sighed, rubbing the clumps on your hands off on your clothes before reaching up to grab his
sunglasses. As you removed them, you saw the dark circles under his eyes that you had already
suspected to be there.

“You haven’t slept at all last night, did you?”

He exhaled sharply, exhaustion nagging at his aching joints. It was enough of an answer for you,
taking his hand in your own and dragging him along until you reached the factory doors. Karl had
an idea where this was going and let you guide him to the comfort of your bed, in which he let
himself fall in, his hammer discarded at the foot of the bed.

You sat down next to him, removing his hat and starting to comb your fingers through his hair. “If
you’re sleep-deprived, you won’t make any progress, Karl.”
Heisenberg growled into the pillow, pressing his face harder against it, refusing to grace you with
an answer. You took a slow breath in, releasing it with a sigh.

“Karl, tell me why you couldn’t sleep.”

Reluctantly, he turned his face to the side to talk. “The better question is how you could.”

You rolled your eyes once more. “Nope, I think I’ll stick with my question.”

“You’re insufferable.” He groaned but chased the hand in his hair all the same as you started to pull
away. “Okay! I’m worried, that enough for you?”

Your hand returned to its earlier ministration. “Listen, I get that. I’m worried too.”

“It’s just…what if we don’t make it in time? We don’t know when Mirandas is coming back.” He
explained, eyelids starting to get heavy.

“Hey, I’m sure we’re going to be okay. The Duke is already prepared to deliver us some bodies and
I’m sure we’ll find a power source somewhere.” You reassured him, even if you didn’t quite
believe your own words.

His head shot up in a sudden jolt, as if he had just caught himself before falling asleep. “And
where? I looked through every cave, every nook and cranny of this damn place, what else is there?
The sky?”

He meant it as a joke, but it got you thinking, an idea beginning to form. “I…don’t think that’s so
farfetched.”

Heisenberg knitted his eyebrows together, raising himself up to sit to have a proper look at you.
“Are you losing your mind already?”

“Karl, my powers!” You suddenly realized. “I can summon lightning! Wouldn’t that be enough
electricity?”

His eyes widened impossibly wide, a grin almost forming only for it to drop again. “Wait, don’t get
me wrong, the idea is great but you-…erm.”

You knew exactly what he was trying to say, even if he couldn’t bring himself to do so. You
lowered your gaze in shame.

“I-I know my control over them is barely there, but I thought…” You trailed off.

Karl laid both his hands on your cheeks, cradling your head and leaning in to kiss you. You sighed
against his lips, falling into his waiting embrace. The two of you stayed like that for a long while,
both thinking about the new plan that was starting to put itself together.

“A lightning rod!” Heisenberg exclaimed out of nowhere, making you flinch involuntarily.

“Huh?” was all you could muster up at the moment.

The grin that wanted to cross Karls face earlier returned in its full power. “I’ll place a lightning rod
on the highest point of the factory with a derivation system that leads straight to the lower floors.
All you need to do is summon a storm!”
You nodded but groaned in annoyance nonetheless. “I can’t just summon them, you know that. I’d
have to be really pissed off.”

The knowing smirk Heisenberg gave you didn’t soothe your annoyance. “You say that like I’m not
pissing you off on a daily basis.”

You playfully punched his chest. “Good point you got there.”

“Now we only need to figure out where we get one.” Karl mused. “Maybe I can put something
together with the scraps in the pit.”

You raised a teasing eyebrow at him. “You sure that thing will stay in one piece?”

“You really want me to throw you out of bed right now?” Heisenberg retorted with a little giggle at
the end, just the hint of a threat there.

You just snuggled closer to him, daring him to actually pull that off. He caught on, of course, and
grumbled something under his breath, tightening his hold on you, refusing to make good on it.
Deciding to stop pondering over it and just relax as Karl let himself fall back, pulling you with him.

“Hey Karl?” You quietly asked for his attention after a while. He hummed his acknowledgement to
you.

“Does everyone struggle with their powers in the beginning?”

The second unasked question being; Was it only you that had trouble with it?

He thought about it. “Ehh, kind of? I heard that Lady vampire used to struggle with actually killing
people for her to eat after her transformation. She does it like a damn hobby now though, so not
sure.”

“Donna, well…She isn’t exactly right in the head, mentally I mean. To be fair, none of us are. Her
hallucinations come from her sweat, so as you can imagine, when she went through a rough patch
and she sweated more, she wasn’t allowed to come to any meetings.”

Then he paused and you could tell he was holding himself back from laughing. “I already told you
about Moreau. It’s hard for him to catch anything out of a sudden, because it takes a lot of time and
concentration for him to form these slime walls. Not to mention his fish-transformation issue.”

You took it all in, considering. “What about you? Did you have trouble too?”

You pushed yourself up to look at his face, pouting at the smirk you saw.

“Me? Nah, I was perfect as always.”

You rolled your eyes at him, letting your head drop back down. “Wow, thanks.”

“I’m only messing with you, Y/N.” Karl was quick to point out, lifting your face back up. “When
my powers first started to manifest, I was a walking magnet most of the time. Can you imagine
walking around and suddenly you’re smacked in the head by some random scrap metal?”

You looked unimpressed, reminding him. “Did you forget that that’s how you captured me in the
first place?”
His teasing act dropped in an instant, guilt overwriting his features. “Oh yeah. Sorry about that by
the way.”

You kissed him softly, telling him without words that you forgave him. “How did you do it?”

Karl looked at you confused. “Well, I saw you walking, I aimed and then I-“

“Not that, dumbass!” You cut him off, giggling. “I mean, how did you take control over your
power?”

“Oh! Yeah, that’s a better question.” He agreed, joining in on the laughter. “I’m not too sure, to be
honest. I guess one day I got tired of pealing metal from my back and I don’t know, forced it to
stop? I focused on the pieces around me and made them bend to my will.”

“So, should I try and force the weather to do what I want?” You suggested, already thinking about
how you’d do that.

“You can try.” Karl agreed, shrugging. “We all made it somehow.”

“Will you help me?” You asked him and he looked taken aback by the question.

You wondered if it was because everyone had to figure it out on their own, no one had any kind of
bond to someone else to ask for help. Mother Miranda sure as hell didn’t care. He seemed lost in
his mind for a hot minute, snapping back out of it when you started caressing his cheek, scratching
his beard.

“Yeah, I’ll try.” He breathed out heavily, taking the hand on his face and kissing your palm. Which
reminded you.

“We still need to wash our faces.”

The sudden change of the subject had you both laughing out loud, scrambling like children out of
bed and towards the bathroom, both of you wanting to be the first to get to the sink. Karl, ever the
bastard, used his hammer to put a barrier in front of you but you jumped over it, which still slowed
you down enough for him to win this little race.

He was already done scrubbing his face by the time you got to the bathroom, flicking water in your
direction with a proud smile. He let you wash your face in peace, though threw the towel at your
face when you turned around.

“Fucking dick.” You growled with no real menace behind it.

“The biggest dick around, in more ways than one.” Karl joked right back, not even hesitating,
enjoying the flush that spread over your face.

You threw the towel back at him, only for him to catch it with one hand, smirking. A nervous tingle
set over your body as it looked like he was about to pounce on you and you turned and ran.

It was a nice change of things, the worries about Miranda and your rebellion suddenly forgotten as
Heisenberg chased after you. You ran out of your room, down the halls and to the elevator, the
adrenaline of the chase making your heart beat against your chest. The doors just closed when
Heisenberg turned the corner and you winked at him before they fully closed.
It was nice of him to not just use his powers to get you, it appeared he wanted to catch you fair and
square. You knew you wouldn’t have much time as you sprinted out of the elevator and down a few
hallways. Distantly you feared getting lost or running into a Soldat, but you willed those concerns
away, trusting Karls ability to not only find you, but also make sure his experiments would stay in
line.

You tripped over a Hauler laying on the floor and just about managed to catch yourself. Somewhere
not too far behind you, you heard heavy boots stomping over the metallic floors. The groan of the
poor creature on the floor alerted Heisenberg of your whereabouts and the footsteps got faster and
closer. You sprinted behind a boiler, pressing yourself between it and the wall, holding your breath.

“Where are you, Y/N?” Karl sing-songed, pacing through the room. “If you come out now, I
promise I won’t be mad at you for hiding.”

You covered your mouth with both hands as you watched him trying to figure out where you were.
He took his sweet old time to decide where to look first, there being many hiding spots around. For
a second, you thought he was heading towards the boiler, but he walked past it to look under a
table. Sneakily, you tiptoed out of your hiding spot, approaching his back carefully. Once near
enough, you pounced on him, jumping up to his back, your arms thrown around his neck and your
legs wrapping around his waist.

You relished in the startled yelp you were able to entice from him as he staggered and lost his
balance, sending both of you down to the ground. The crash did hurt, you had to admit, but the
minimal pain was forgotten as soon as Karl turned to look at you.

You were howling with laughter, holding your stomach. “I caught you!”

Heisenberg pouted, both confused and a little bit surprised you were able to do that. “I thought I
was the hunter?”

“Turned the tables on you.” You giggled, poking his shoulder as he began to grin.

“You mean you cheated,” Karl growled playfully, pushing you down on your back to crawl over
you. “Little minx, I should punish you.”

You pushed your head up against his lips eagerly, your hands grabbing his coat only for him to grab
your wrists and pin them down on either side of your head. Well if that didn’t get you all hot and
bothered.

The sexual tension was rising, only for the Hauler that was still in the room with you to growl
somewhere close, snapping you both out of it again. The look of the zombie-like figure was enough
of a turn down for both of you and Karl looked just about ready to rip its head off for giving him
blue balls.

You soothed his anger with another kiss. “We should start getting to work anyway.”
 Lightning
Chapter Notes

Just a little heads up; I'm having a sleepover with a friend, which means tomorrows chapter
will be posted a little later :)

The next few days Heisenberg and you spent digging through the scrap metal, searching for the
right pieces Karl needed to craft the lightning rod with. Even though he used his abilities for the
search, it felt like it took ages until you had found everything.

Once you had everything though, Karl was quick to put it all together. He placed the rod on top of
the tallest chimney of the factory, making sure everything was fixed on tight and sturdy. You were
on the ground, watching with a worried frown as Karl stood up there on a single metal plate. He
assured you multiple times that he wouldn’t fall and that you were overreacting. But how could you
not worry when he was about 50 meters off the ground?!

Karl also installed a camera, pointing directly at it, at your suggestion. If anything went wrong,
you’d both be able to see it without getting into any danger.

Now finally at the evening that you two had planned for the try-out, your nerves were dancing all
over your body. Most of all, you were scared you’d disappoint Karl if you couldn’t bring the
lightning on as you had planned. What if you failed and knocked your rebellion back down a few
pecks?

Karl noticed your concerns of course and he tried to reassure you.

“You need to worry less about your power and focus on my ability to piss you off! I think most of
the storms you brought on were my fault.”

Even though it made you smile, it didn’t calm you. Currently, Karl was busy readying the finishing
touches on a freshly built Soldat, making sure the derivation system was attached to the reactor in
the middle of its chest. You eyed the creature cautiously, especially that drill. It wasn’t even moving
yet and you had the creeps.

Karl checked it all over once more. “Alright, the camera is working, the wires sit correctly and the
lightning rod still stands.”

Which meant it was soon to be your time to shine. The thought made you shiver, the nervous
energy in your body has to get out somehow.

Karl watched you from the corner of his eye, uncertain. “You know, if it makes you that
uncomfortable, we could try something else.”

Immediately you shook your head. “No. We don’t have the time for all that. I’m just scared, I don’t
want to let you down.”
His lips pressed against yours in the next moment, Karls hands grabbing your hips to drag you
closer to his body.

“Listen, I know I don’t show it well, but I believe in you, okay?”

You sighed, leaning your forehead against his cheek. “Okay. I’ll try my best.”

“That’s the spirit!” He smiled, kissing your cheek before taking a few steps back, turning to look at
the screen that showed what the camera saw. The sky was still calm and it was time to change that.

A mischievous grin spread over his face when he turned back to face you, approaching you again.
You looked at him warily. He raised his hand, fast, and you flinched and cowered away at the
sudden move, eyes closing. You didn’t really expect him to hit you, and of course, he didn’t.

He flicked his finger against your forehead. You opened your eyes with a frown, straightening back
up.

“What are you-“

He flicked his finger again.

“H-Hey!”

And again.

“Karl stop your bull-“

And again.

Not only did that simple thing annoy you already, the fact that he had so much sway over you that
something like that could make you angry, made you furious above all.

When next he tried that move, you snatched his wrist, holding it tight. He just laughed at your face,
using his free hand to poke your side and as you tried to grab that wrist as well, he simply evaded
your hand and ripped his other one free without so much as a sweat breaking out.

“You know, I used to do this to Moreau.” He started flicking his finger against your forehead again.
You were sure your skin was already turning red at the abuse.

“It was so funny watching him lose it and turn into that fish monster!”

In the very back of your mind, you told yourself that he only acted like that to get some lightning
going, but it stayed all the way back there. This was the point, after all, make you angry.

And it worked. Dark clouds started to form above the factory, lightning dancing over them, but not
yet striking down. Karl knew he needed to push you just a little bit more.

“And I lied about you having amazing tits.”

It was a low blow and that was exactly what you needed to explode, lightning crashing down
around the whole village and one hitting the lightning rod. For a moment, it looked like a triumph,
but then the Soldat on the table started shaking violently and then slumped back down, the reactor
not turning on.
Karl glared at the screen. “For fucks sake! It fucking broke!”

You approached the TV, pushing Karl to the side to get a better look at it. Indeed, the rod had
broken into pieces, some still clinging to each other weakly but it was a goner all the same.

“Maybe I can salvage it,” Karl said with determination, stomping off towards the door. “I’m going
back up there, you stay here in case the Soldat decides to wake up after all.”

That had you immediately sprinting towards the door yourself, standing in Karl's path. “Like hell
am I staying in here alone with that!”

Heisenberg rolled his eyes. “One of us has to stay with it though!”

“Then you do it!” You demanded. “I’m going up there!”

“The fuck are you supposed to do? You don’t know shit about it.” Karl snarled, perhaps a bit more
viciously than necessary.

“I can figure it out! I’ve watched you built it.” You countered, arms crossing over your chest.

Karl said nothing for a few long moments, the only indication of his mood was the rattling of metal
somewhere from behind you. He didn’t like you going out there and even less you fighting him
over it.

You stood your ground until something crashed loudly, somewhere in the distance. Karl probably
threw something around to release the tension. He turned on his heel, walking over to a wooden
crate and started digging through it and pulling out two walkie-talkies.

He threw one at you and you caught it with ease, rubbing the dirt and dust off with your sleeve.
Karl gripped his one tightly, still resentful to sending you off, but seemingly realizing you wouldn’t
budge on it.

“You do everything exactly as I tell you, you hear me?”

“Yes, your highness.” You growled, turning and leaving through the half-lit hallway, masterfully
ignoring Karl cursing under his breath.

On the way up you cradled the walkie-talkie to your chest, knowing you two were only arguing
because it looked like the idea was a fuck-up. At least it wasn’t your inability to take control over
your power that failed you.

Once outside, you looked up at the chimney with a frown. Guess you’ll have to climb up. You saw
a rusted old car somewhere along the outside of the factory and once you found it again, you
climbed up to its roof, then to the first part of the factory itself. You were walking carefully along
the roof, approaching the chimney. Once you got to it, you walked around it, hoping to find a latter
up. Luckily, it had one, even if it looked like it could break apart at any moment. You tucked the
walkie-talkie into your waistband, grabbing the first bar of the latter and starting your ascend.

Around halfway up, you heard some static before Karls irritated voice reached you through the
walkie-talkie.

“You up there any time soon?”

You rolled your eyes and groaned. “Almost at the top, now shut up.”

“Oh, well with that little attitude, I won’t help you.”

You sighed, finally reaching the top and standing up on trembling legs, the height making you
squeamish. You looked at the camera and flipped Karl the bird.

“You really wanna test me right now, sweetheart?” The walkie-talkie said.

You took it from your waistband and brought it up to your mouth. “Just tell me what to do Karl.”

For a moment, it was all silent and you were about to berate him for just ignoring you, but it
appeared he pulled himself together, probably realizing he was wasting time.

“Alright, we can bicker on later. Grab the rod, see if the different parts look too damaged.”

You did as he told you, crouching down and assessing the damage, then showing a few pieces to
the camera, listening to the engineer humming in thought.

“Fuck, that thing is ruined. Need to build another one, better and stronger. Might take a few weeks
to get the parts though.”

Time that you simply did not have. Mother Miranda could be back already by then, worst case with
Eveline at her side. You needed to figure something out and fast.

You looked up at the sky, studying the flickers of lightning for a while, another idea forming. It was
stupid and downright suicidal, but if it worked, then you’d be one step further to freedom.

Slowly you raised yourself up until you were standing tall. The walkie-talkie sprang to life again.

“Y/N, what are you doing exactly?”

You brought it back to your mouth again. “Got an idea Karl, just hold on a second.”

You laid the communication device down next to the camera, but close enough to still hear
Heisenberg's ranting, then grabbing the wires of the derivation system tightly in one hand.

Once more you looked up at the clouds. You made those, you created the lightning that was so
important for your task. It was your power and you’d force it to do what you wanted because you
fucking had to.

With determination, you raised your hand up high above your head, glaring at the storm as if daring
it to fight you. You channelled all your rage, all the pain and all the fight in you into your powers.

From the ground, you heard Heisenberg shouting at you.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

As you had anticipated, another lightning bolt struck down, hitting the tips of your fingers and
searing through your body and into the wires in your other hand, effectively passing the electricity
down to where Karl was with the Soldat.
It was very uncomfortable, but there wasn’t a real pain behind it, you assumed because the
lightning was of your own creation. It tingled down your arm and spine, your muscles trying to
spasm against your will, but you wouldn’t let them. You were taking control of this now.

“Y/N are you fucking crazy?!” Karl all but shrieked through the walkie talkie, followed by some
crashes and hurried footsteps going away.

When the bolt was done, it left you in a dizzy haze, your body swaying a little with the force of it.
You were about to trip and then probably fall down if there weren’t some strong arms around you
all of a sudden, the smell of cigars and motor oil invading your nostrils.

Karl was standing on a floating piece of metal, holding you tightly from behind, panting heavily.

“What were you thinking?!”

His voice sounded pained and scared and even through your haze, you couldn’t have that. You took
one of his gloved hands into your own, bringing it up to your lips for a gentle kiss.

“I’m okay. I’m not hurt.”

“Like hell you are!” Karl pressed his face against your neck. “You just got struck by fucking
lightning!”

“Oh really, I hadn’t noticed.” You smirked, your tired body slumping against him. “I’m serious
Karl, I’m just tired and dizzy right now, not in pain.”

“Even so, you shouldn’t have done something so reckless. What if you got hurt? Or even worse!?”

His voice sounded broken and it pulled you out of your dizziness completely, the need to comfort
him stronger than anything else. You brought your hand up and touched the side of his face, your
thumb swiping over his bearded skin.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I wanted to make you proud, make progress.”

He seemed to gather himself somewhat. “Please don’t act so stupid, I know you’re not.”

“I promise.” You said, turning your head to kiss his temple, which was a little awkward because of
his hat.

The platform had started to descend, hitting the ground with a soft thud. Karl pulled himself free,
stepping off and holding his hand out for you to take, helping you down.

He watched you take some unsteady steps. “Can you walk?”

“Like a newborn foal, but yeah.” You tried to joke, losing up the tension.

Karl wasn’t having any of it. He bend down a little, putting one arm behind your knees and one to
your back, hoisting you up into his arms. It happened so fast that you grabbed onto the lapels of his
trench coat, whining as your head started spinning again.

“If you throw up on me, I swear I’ll send a Soldat after you.” Karl rumbled, only half-joking as he
started to carry you back inside.
“The Soldat!” You exclaimed, remembering the whole reason you went up there to begin with.
“Karl, did it wake up?”

He just shrugged. “Don’t know, I didn’t stick around to see because someone felt the need to give
me a damn heart attack.”

“What?! Come on, we need to check!” You tried to wiggle away from his grip, only for it to
tighten.

“You aren’t going anywhere, sweetheart.” He forbid, one brow twitching with annoyance. “I’m
bringing you to bed.”

“No! Karl please!” You whined, looking up at him through your eyelashes. “We need to make
sure!”

That ripped a warning snarl from the Lord. “You really think you’re in any position to demand shit
from me?”

“Please.” You pleaded. “I swear I’ll go to bed right after, won’t make a fuss.”

“Highly unlikely.” He grumbled under his breath but turned in the direction of the elevator all the
same. “We check and then you stay in fucking bed, you got that?”

You leaned up as much as you could and kissed the underside of his chin. “Thank you.”

He carried you into the elevator and once it was back on the floor you were before, he carried you
through the hallways until you were back at the room with the experiment. Already from a distance
away, you could make out the sounds of a drill running and it was confirmed when Karl swung the
door open.

The Soldat was still strapped to the table, but its reactor was glowing red and the drill that replaced
the left arm was spinning. Karl did look a little surprised at that, setting you down on a chair in the
corner before approaching the writhing mess.

“Hold still, you fucker.” He cursed as it started to wiggle more once he stood next to it. With his
power, he forced the drill to stay in its place, doing a check-up over the Soldat.

“Everything alright with it?” You asked after a while of just watching him hum to himself and write
down some notes.

He didn’t look up from his work but answered. “Well, it is reanimated, that’s for sure. But the
places where metal meets flesh are burned, meaning the voltage power was too high. Need to work
on that.”

“Maybe next time I have enough practise to channel it better.” You thought out loud, jumping in
your seat when something crashed against the wall behind you.

Karl had taken off his sunglasses so you could see the burning fire in them. “You’re not going to do
shit.”

His words had taken you aback. “B-But Karl, I could-“

“Do not ‘but Karl’ me!” He cut you off, his tools beginning to vibrate against the walls they were
attached on. “You don’t get to scare me shitless, making me think you’re a goner and then think I’d
let you do it again!”

Suddenly, you realized just how much you had frightened him. You were so focused on making this
work that you didn’t think to consider what Karl had seen. From his point of view, it must’ve been
horrible seeing the lightning struck you like it did, even if it hadn’t harmed you. Neither of you
knew if it would affect you or not. You thought about what it would’ve been like for you if you saw
Heisenberg like that and the imagine nearly made you sob.

The rattling stopped when he saw the tears in your eyes, guilt overwriting his anger and you
couldn’t have that. You got up and went up to him to pull him into an embrace.

“I’m sorry for scaring you, I wasn’t thinking.”

An exhausted sigh left his lips as he wrapped his arms around you, hold tight like he was afraid
you’d be gone if he didn’t hold on tight enough. He stayed silent but didn’t need to hear his voice to
know he wasn’t angry with you anymore, but still afraid of the possibility of you leaving him
behind like that. You needed to be more careful.

“Come, I promised you I’d go to bed.” You whispered against his chest, pressing a kiss to it.

You felt him nod against you, swiping you back up onto his arms, the Soldat on the table forgotten,
a worry for tomorrow. He carried you back to the elevator and then, once back to the main floor,
back to your shared room. He laid you down on the mattress like you were made from glass, his
movements slow and measured.

Karl went to the end of the bed and took off your shoes for you, rubbing over your ankles in a
loving manner. It reminded you a little of the way he would caress his hammer when he needed
some comfort.

He shrugged off his coat and boots before joining you at your side, arms back around your body.
You two moved closer together until your fronts touched, arms and legs tangled and foreheads
resting against each other. You felt his breath against your skin and brought your lips to his
tenderly. He answered in kind, moving his lips against yours as the rest of his tension left his aching
muscles.

You whispered another apology in between the movements of your lips, your fingers dancing over
the skin of his arm to further soothe him.

You decided with a new determination that you would wrestle your powers into submission, prove
to Karl that you could do it and stay safe at the same time. He should never have to worry about
you like that again.
 The Queen Of Clouds
Chapter Notes

I'm back! And things are getting steamy...

Another two weeks passed and Karl had officially banned you from entering the lower grounds of
the factory. You had tried to fight him about it and a big argument ensued, but in the end, you
backed down, if only to not make it worse.

He could be as stubborn as a mule sometimes. The only kind of arrangement you two formed was
that he would reconsider his decision once you had taken a better grip over your power.

So, just like at the very beginning, you found yourself a prisoner in your room but at least this time
you were allowed to leave the factory at all. You used that freedom to train outside, trying to
summon and change the weather to your will and not let it be dictated by your mood.

You had some success with it, twice now being able to turn the heavy rain into silently falling snow
and back again. The thunder and lightning part was a bit trickier, because every time you tried to
control it, it got out of hand because the memory of your fight with Karl would make you rage.

Once you had reached that point in your training, it usually didn’t take long for Heisenberg to show
up out of nowhere, no doubt still using that damn camera, hidden somewhere from your sight. He
would demand you stop for the day before you’d hurt yourself.

It usually meant more bickering between you two and after two whole weeks of this, you didn’t
have the energy left for it anymore. It wasn’t like you two were showing each other the cold
shoulder all the time, you’d still cuddle and kiss whenever you could, but you missed his warmth at
night as he had started pulling all-nighters.

You knew he was only trying to protect you but it was getting annoying. Karl himself had told you
you needed to get in control! And now he was actively working against you by stopping you from
using lightning.

Today you were once more focusing on your powers, but it had gotten you to a point in which you
began to care less. So, after just about an hour of training, you laid down in the tall grass, arms
crossed under your head and staring up at the sky.

Mother Miranda had been gone for about three weeks already and you felt like there was nothing to
show for it. Karl was busy all day making new blueprints for new kinds of Soldats, trying to fix
their weak spots while you laid here in the meadow feeling sorry for yourself.

Your eyes started to burn as you forced them to hold back the frustrated tears that wanted to escape
them. You wouldn’t cry, you refused to.

You wanted to hate Heisenberg for treating you like a child, but your heart wouldn’t let you. Why
was this manic, metal wielding man with anger issues just so fucking important to you?
It began with him being your captor and now, even after just spending a few months with him, your
life has changed so much that you couldn’t imagine ever being without him again.

You sat up, gently wiping away the dirt and wilk grass, glad Donna and Angie didn’t see what their
clothes for you had to go through. This wasn’t helping, wallowing in self-pity all day, you needed a
distraction.

With a sigh, you went back inside the factory, deciding a relaxing hot shower was due. You walked
towards your room, your gaze falling longingly to the other hallway that led to the elevator. You
missed working with Karl.

Not for the first time you wanted to just disobey Karls order, go back down to the lower floors,
even to just walk around and explore. But the last thing you needed right now was for Heisenberg
to chain you up again.

With tired steps you entered the bathroom, avoiding looking at the mirror to see the exhaustion on
your face. You undressed and stepped into the shower, turning the water on and immediately
humming in satisfaction when the warm water hit your back.

You let your mind wander, imagining the water washing away all the problems that plagued you in
your sleep. With them forgotten for a while, your mind had room for other, more pleasant imagines
to form.

You pretended that everything around you didn’t exist anymore, that it was only Karl and you left
alone in this world. You closed your eyes and imagined him joining you in the shower, tingles of
excitement running up and down your skin.

Ever since that night when the Hauler had interrupted the sexual heat that had built between you
two, you couldn’t help but imagine what Karl would’ve done if the Hauler wasn’t there. Usually,
you would stop thinking about it soon after, not having the time to think about these kinds of
things. This time, however, you let it unfurl within your mind.

Your hands slid down your body, one cupping a breast, the fingers gently rolling your nipple, while
the other hand went to your heated core.

With your eyes closed, it wasn’t hard to pretend your hands were actually those of Heisenberg,
rough fingers working your body and making you moan.

You thought of him playing with you on that dirty factory floor, not carrying about the mess he’d
turn you into. You imagined him using his tongue on your most intimate area and the fingers on
your clit sped up. Karl would definitely make you orgasm on his tongue and fingers first before
he’d allow you to feel his length buried in your wanton walls.

You had to let go of your breast to steady yourself against the wall with the now free hand, body
yerking with the need to find release. You still felt the way his cock had rubbed against you, hard
and ready for you. He felt so big.

“K-Karl.” You whined his name, fingers relentlessly abusing the aching bud.

The thought of him entering this bathroom right now filled your mind, wondering what he’d do if
he saw you pleasuring yourself and moaning his name. The idea of him taking you right here
against the shower walls was what pushed you over the edge.
You had to clasp your hand over your mouth, your forehead pressed against the cool wall, to stifle
the embarrassingly loud keen of pleasure, your fingers milking the orgasm for as long as you could
bear.

Your knees were trembling with the effort of holding you up and you slowly slid down to the floor,
the water continuing to drop, with time washing away the wetness that you created between your
legs. You took a few shaking breaths, the haze of rapture wearing off.

“Wow.” That was all you could say to that. It never felt this intense before when you had
masturbated.

After enough time had passed to calm down, you finished your shower and stepped out. You
noticed that the room was steamier than usually after you’d take a shower, the fog thicker. You had
shrugged it off as nothing, drying off and then stepping out of the bathroom. You went to the
wardrobe, pulling out some new clothes when you saw movement from the corner of your eyes.

You watched curiously as the steam from the bathroom followed you out, floating in your direction.
You stepped around it and went to the other side of the room, which had it turn and follow you once
more. It was unsettling, but not downright worrying you.

Deciding that doing this naked wouldn’t do, you pulled the clothes you had gathered over your
body, the steam enveloping you slowly. You studied it and came to the conclusion that it couldn’t
be steam from your shower after all, as it was too thick and dense.

You wagged your hands through it, trying to clear the air, but the mass followed your movements,
almost like it was doing so on your will. It had encased you so completely that you had trouble
seeing the rest of the room anymore and annoyance flared up.

Two things happened just then; The first was lightning to flicker over the mass around you and the
second was the realization of what this was.

“That’s a fucking cloud.” You gasped, the lightning disappearing immediately just like your
irritation.

You stared in disbelieve for a moment, bewildered about the development your relaxation attempt
had taken. But one thing was clear to you; You needed to show this to Karl immediately.

Fuck his order to not enter the lower floors. You all but ran out the door and towards the elevator,
the cloud following you close behind. You grinned with excitement, slamming the button for the
middle floor. You were glad the Duke wasn’t inside right now, as you had a feeling he wouldn’t like
the fogginess as much.

The doors opened on your destinated floor and you rushed out, stopping shortly after. You didn’t
even know where Karl was! You hadn’t taken the map with you when you went off, too busy with
getting to Karl to even think about the how.

The cloud floated around you like a mantel and you walked into a random direction, hoping you’d
get lucky and hear him shout somewhere. It took about 10 Minutes until something happened.

You flinched and jumped as a loud static rang through the hallway you were in, covering your ears.

“Y/N, why are you down here?” Heisenberg's voice rang out, clearly frustrated.
You looked around and spotted some cameras and speakers, raising an eyebrow. “You wired this
place up too?”

“Wired up the whole damn factory.” He said. “But that’s not what we’re talking about right now. I
told you you’re not allowed to come down here!”

“Karl, I need to show you something! It’s important, where are you?” You exclaimed, looking
around as if Karl would suddenly stand somewhere close by.

There was some muttering and groaning. “Fucks sake, the camera is fogging up!”

“That’s what I want to show you!” You explained hurriedly. “Please Karl, where are you?”

A long pause, but then Heisenberg spoke again. “Alright, I’ll guide you. Back to the elevator.”

You hurried along the hallways, listening to his guidance and you went down one floor and through
a series of rooms until finally, Karl was leaned against a doorframe, waiting for you. A cigar clung
to his lips as he watched you approach, eyeing the mist that followed after you.

“What the fuck is that?”

“A cloud!” You grinned proudly. “I made it!”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “You made it? Care to explain?”

Karl stepped back inside the room he was working in, waving for you to follow him. Just like you
did, the cloud followed as well, which made him snarl.

“Can that thing stay outside or something? Can’t see shit with it in here.”

You thought back to the situation in your room when you waved your hands around and the cloud
had followed your movements. Slowly, you made a shooing motion with your hands and to your
delight, the cloud went back out and into the hallway, staying there even after you closed the door.

Karl stumped his cigar out on the ground, not caring to pick it up afterwards. “So, how exactly did
you make a cloud?”

You paused and then shrugged. “Not sure to be honest. I was taking a shower and when I was done,
the cloud was there. It follows me around.”

He sighed, looking you over. “You weren’t doing anything in the shower that could have caused
this?”

Instantly your face heated up, turning your skin a deep crimson. Nope, you couldn’t tell him you
had pleasured yourself over him, it was too embarrassing.

“No, not really.”

Karl did see the flush over your face but said nothing about it yet, his head already preparing an
explanation.

“Wanna know what I think?” He asked with a slight smirk. “I think, you weren’t controlling the
weather after all.”
Your brows knitted together in confusion. “Of course I was, you saw it.”

He shook his head. “You weren’t controlling the weather, you were creating clouds that reflected
your emotions!”

He stepped closer to you, his scent invading your senses. “And whatever you did in the shower had
influenced you enough to create one indoors.”

Unbeknownst to you, he had backed you up against a wall and once you hit the cool metal you
squeaked. He put his hands on either side of your head, caging you in with his body.

“Come on, what did you do in the shower?” He asked, licking his lips in a way that suggested he
already suspected what it was. “Your face is so red a bull would charge at you…If I’d let it that is.”

You swallowed, adverting your eyes because you thought everything was better than seeing his
face. But the fluff of chest hair that peeked over the top of his shirt made you think otherwise.

He put a finger under your chin, making you look back up at him. “Come on, why so shy? Was it
something bad?”

“K-Karl.” You whined, the words falling off your lips the same as the ones you moaned in the
shower. “Stop teasing me.”

He leaned down and kissed you, pressing his whole body against yours. When you parted, he
grinned down at you devilishly.

“I’m sure you were nice and relaxed in there, weren’t you?”

You hid your face against his neck, face burning up. “You figured it out already, stop flustering
me!”

His chuckle was dark. “Because one; It’s funny and two; I want to hear you say it, sweetheart.”

As hot and bothered as you were right then, you didn’t have the willpower to fight him off
anymore. “I-I…touched myself.”

A deep growl rumbled out from his chest, possessive and clearly aroused. “Is that so? And what did
you imagine in that pretty little head of yours?”

You whined, stretching your neck to kiss him but he skilfully avoided your lips, tutting. “Oh no,
only good little pets get treats. Tell me.”

You recognized Lady Dimitrescu's nickname for you, but when Karl said it in this kind of context,
it made the ache inside you only worse. Fucking bastard.

“You.” Your voice was shaking as you confessed. “I thought about you, Karl. Doing so many things
to me.”

His lips found yours in the next second, pressing hard and insistently. You moaned into the kiss
when Karl bit your bottom lip, using that moment of your mouth being open to add his tongue into
the mix. Both of your hands went up and into his hair, pushing his hat off without a single care.
Just when you thought things would get more heated, Heisenberg pulled away completely, putting
distance between you two and you all but cried out at the loss of his warmth.

Karl gave you a satisfied smirk, turning towards the door. “Alright! Let’s get a better look at that
cloud of yours.”

He swung the door open, waiting for you to come with him. You stood there in stunned silence,
looking at him in confused disappointment.

“B-But - What? – I-I thought…”

He laughed at your attempt to stutter out a response to that, tilting his head. “That is punishment for
disobeying my order.”

Your mouth fell open in a loud gasp, realizing that he had not only set you up but would also pull
this denial through. He laughed louder, walking out the door. Before disappearing from your view,
you saw his hand reach down and adjust his pants at his crotch, letting you know that he wasn’t as
unaffected as he wanted you to believe.

You stumbled after him, more bewildered than angry luckily, as Karl was already walking through
the cloud. Wouldn’t want him to accidentally get hit by a lightning bolt.

As per usual, you followed him, this time with your cloud in tow until you arrived back at the large
open area with the conveyor belts. Karl turned to look at you.

“Now, how much control do you have over that thing?”

“Well, I can move it around with my hands.” You demonstrated that by making the cloud float off
and over the edge of the platform you were on. “It also had some lightning in it earlier.”

Maybe you shouldn’t have told him about that last part, you thought to yourself, as he immediately
glared at you. You raised your hands up innocently.

“It’s not like I wanted it to! I got mad because I couldn’t see shit anymore.”

The tension in Karls body slowly went down, in the end leaving together with a long sigh. Karl
composed himself.

“Okay, that’s progress. Can you make it change shape or something?”

You looked at the cloud, uncertain but willing to try as you started moving your hands, trying to
make a roughly round shape. The mist followed your guidance, forming a ball and you squished
your hands together, mimicking the motions of balling up a piece of paper, making the cloud
smaller.

It floated back and into your hand, now no bigger than maybe a guinea pig. You proudly held it out
for Karl to see.

“Isn’t that cute!”

He rolled his eyes, but a small smile adorned his lips. “Adorable. Now, can you make it disappear
too?”
That one was a bit trickier and you wondered how you managed to do it before. With a little sigh,
you just stared at it, hoping it would leave on its own. It didn’t. You frowned at it some more,
yelling at it in your mind to fuck off, but to no avail.

Karl chuckled quietly, watching you get frustrated. “Okay, we’ll figure it out soon enough. Just
throw it outside for now.”

That made you pause. It didn’t feel right to just kick it out of the house, even if it wasn’t alive to get
offended by it. Instead, you began to form it some more, fumbling with it until it became the shape
of an angels halo, putting it to your head. The cloud floated like a crown on your head and you felt
something click as if that was where the cloud was meant to be at.

Heisenberg watched you, surprised to see you wearing your creation like a crown. “Kinda suits
you.”

“I like that.” You smiled brightly at him, stepping up and giving him a soft kiss. “I think I’m getting
better with my powers.”

The implication wasn’t lost on Heisenberg, who groaned when he remembered the deal you two
had made. It was clear to you that he had agreed to this deal, thinking you wouldn’t be making that
much progress this fast, but a deal is a deal and you wouldn’t let him back out.

He knew that. “Yes, alright. You’re allowed to come back to work.”

You kissed him again, giggling happily. Afterwards, he gave you a kiss on your cheek before
reaching his hand up to cradle your face.

“Enough for today. How about we go to our room?”

You nodded your agreement, the two of you starting to walk off towards the elevator.

“Erm, Karl?” You grabbed his attention as the door closed. “You said you had installed cameras in
the whole factory…You didn’t put them in the bathroom, did you?”

Karl barked out a laugh. “Of course not! I’m not such a creep.”

Then he gave you a sly smile, winking. “But I sure wish I did now.”
 A Party
Chapter Notes

Hi everyone!
Thank you all so much for sticking around and all the helpful comments yesterday. I’ve
deleted the chapter and have rewritten parts of it.
Thanks to everyone that assured me it was my story and I didn’t have to change anything if it
didn’t sit right with me. But as I said before, the chapter didn’t quite sit right with me either, it
didn’t work out the way I had intended it to and now that I’ve changed it, I feel more
comfortable with it.
I hope we can all just forget about it so that the story doesn’t get impacted and you can still
enjoy the many more chapters to come.
Sorry once more if I have hurt/offended anybody.

The next week you spent with Karl in the depts of the factory, working restlessly on your rebellion.
It meant you two would sleep just enough to function and usually wouldn’t even bother to get back
to bed for it.

One time, you were able to catch Karl by his shoulder just before he would’ve dropped forward and
smacked his head against the Soldat he was working on. It was getting too dangerous and you
forced the both of you to spent a day in your actual bed, just to get your shit back together.

Karl, of course, refused at first, glaring at your cloud crown as it blinked up with lightning. But you
wouldn’t let him continue to endanger himself, even if the Cadou made it hard for him to get hurt in
the first place.

His retaliation to your demand was then to just suffocate you against the mattress. You were laying
on your stomach, already prepared to fall asleep with your cloud floating above the bed when Karl
jumped on top of you, putting his whole weight on you as he laid himself over your back. You
groaned, too tired to do more as he forced his way against you, his head pushing yours away so he
could rest it against your neck, his hair falling in all directions and covering your face.

“You’re an asshole.” You grumbled, muscles flexing in an attempt to rid yourself of the discomfort.
“Why do I even like you.”

“Because I’m funny and hot as hell.” He murmured against your skin, falling quiet soon after.

Your body adjusted to his weight on it, at least he was considerate enough to not restrict your
breathing. You were about to slip off into dreamland when some loud bangs rang through the
hallways outside. Karl jerked back awake, already seeing red for being disturbed.

You two waited for a second, assuming it would stop and Karl had begun to relax again only for the
banging to continue.
“Alright, that’s fucking it!” He yelled, jumping out of bed and grabbing his hammer. “Whoever is
knocking on my damn door is about to meet God!”

You brushed off your tiredness and went after him, stopping him just before he’d left the room.
“Karl, go back to sleep, I’ll go see who it is.”

“Fuck that, what if it’s Alcina or a fucking Lycan?” He sneered, his sleep depravity making him
more antsy.

You raised a challenging eyebrow. “Lady Dimitrescu would never bother to come all the way here
just to try and off me and Lycans are too stupid to knock on doors.”

As if on cue, the knocking came again. You gently pushed him towards the bed.

“Go to bed, if something happens, I’ll scream.”

Heisenberg cursed under his breath but apparently decided to just follow your request and let you
handle it. He dropped back down into the bed, feet dangling off the edge, not caring enough to pull
himself up all the way. You shook your head with a small smile before opening the door and
walking off towards the front doors of the factory.

The knocking came again but this time you pushed the door open, squinting against the sunlight
that hit your face. You must’ve looked either horrible or just pissed, as the young woman standing
at the door immediately took a few steps back. She was shaking slightly, a piece of paper in her
hands.

You gave her a tired smile, hoping it was enough to calm her. “Yeah, what can I help you with?”

The woman audibly gulped. “H-Hello! Is Lord Heisenberg available?”

You shook your head. “He’s out like a light, but can I give him a message or something?”

She looked a little disappointed, which you didn’t get but shrugged off. The villagers here are weird
like that.

“I’m Elena.” She finally introduced herself, holding out the letter for you to take. “I bring an
invitation for a little gathering at Luiza's house. We want to celebrate all the glory Mother Miranda
and our Lords gift us.”

Slowly, you took the letter, looking it over. “Thanks Elena, I’m Y/N by the way. I’ll make sure to
give it to Lord Heisenberg.”

“Thank you.” Elena said quietly, hanging her head low as she stepped away, eventually turning and
walking off. What an odd woman.

You closed the doors and tapped back to your room, Karl having managed the struggle to lay
properly on the bed by now. You put the letter down on the table and went to his side, sliding into
bed next to him.

“What was it?” Karl asked, lazily slinging an arm around you.

“An invitation to a gathering at Luiza's house.” You explained, snuggling up to his side.
“Something about celebrating Mother Miranda and the Lords.”
Karl groaned and waved it off. “When will they stop trying to invite us to that stuff? It’s not like
any of us will attend, especially not me.”

You already figured as much, but it sounded kind of nice to you. You haven’t really interacted
much with the people living here, only having eaten cookies from Luiza and taken this message
from Elena. It could be nice to just hang around, meet new people, maybe see how they really think
and live.

“I’d like to go.” You told him, making him hiss in distaste at the very thought.

“Why is it that you always make me do shit I can’t stand?”

You looked at him, unimpressed. “I said I wanted to go. You can stay here.”

“Nope, not going to happen.” His arm around you tightened. “I won’t let you be alone with those
blindly devoted inbreeds.”

“Karl! If you’re acting like that you’ll stay here whether you like it or not.” You put in the
ultimatum, reflecting his warning glare right back at him.

The fight left him with an exhausted sigh. “Fine. You know, sometimes I just want to hit your head
with some scrap again.”

You giggled at his threat, even if you’re not sure if he meant it or not. You squeezed his torso once,
leaning up to kiss his temple. One hand went to his hair, combing through it and lightly scratching
his scalp and you relished in the purr of comfort he let you hear.

“Let’s finally sleep. We’ll need the energy tomorrow.”

The next day you spent way too much time getting ready, trying on different outfits and presenting
them to Karl, wanting to hear his opinion on what suited the occasion best. He was sulking, still not
happy to have to attend the gathering, but hummed his agreement to your clothing choices anyway.
Once you were ready, bouncing up and down in excitement, Karl grabbed his hammer, refusing to
leave it behind. You on the other hand left behind your cloud. The villagers didn’t know about all
the supernatural stuff you all were able to do and you having a halo of cloud around your head
would raise unnecessary attention.

Heisenberg and you went off, him directing you to Luiza's house. Walking past the church and up
the hill of Fallow Plot, you arrived at your destination. Luizas house was certainly one of the
biggest normal houses around, looking pristine and proud above the rest of the village. The wooden
gate was opened invitingly as you reached it, the surrounding land giving you some creepy vibes.
Especially that scarecrow looking thing.

Heisenberg looked unbothered by it all, as always, only grimacing at the fact that he’d have to
interact with people soon. People who worshipped him, no less. He didn’t like them swooning over
him, praising his apparent goodness and the love he undoubtedly had for the woman that fucked his
life up.

You gave him a soothing kiss while still protected from unseen eyes. Both of you had agreed that
the romantic aspect of your relationship should stay between the two of you, instead making the
villagers believe you were some kind of an assistant for him, gifted by Miranda. It would also
explain why you lived with him at the factory.
Giving him one more encouraging smile, you turned to the door and knocked on it, stepping away
and back to Heisenberg's side, if a little further back.

The door opened, Luiza's eyes expanding in surprise to see one of her Lords at her doorstep. “L-
Lord Heisenberg! What an honour!”

Karl was ready to snarl at the woman, already irritated by her display of devotion to him, but you
not too gently kicked against the back of his boot, warning him.

“Yes, hello!” He put on his showman's voice, that apparently being the best of deception he could
do right now. “Got an invitation and Y/N wanted us to attend.”

You wanted to slap a hand over your forehead, hoping the implication that Heisenberg was forced
to attend was lost to your hostess. Luiza smiled, either not realizing or just ignoring that.

She stepped back inside, waving at you invitingly to welcome you in. Karl stomped inside, putting
his hammer down against a wall at the entryway at your request. He muttered something about “It’s
not like I’ll hit anyone with it” under his breath, away from Luiza's ears. You had to hold in a
snicker, remembering Karl describing the people in the village as “not the type of social butterfly”
when he himself wasn’t one.

You two followed your hostess further inside, the sound of light music and voices talking filling
your ears and making your stomach jump with excitement.

“Everyone! Two guests of honour just arrived!” Luiza announced loudly, a proud smile on her lips
as she waved her hand over Karl and you.

The room went silent, except for some startled gasps and ahs. It shouldn’t be surprising, Karl had
told you that none of the family had attended such events in a long time, but it was a little
unsettling nonetheless. Karl was clearly uncomfortable with being stared at like that, and you did
feel bad for him, but reminded yourself that this wasn’t your fault. Heisenberg chose to attend with
you.

Luiza did her best to smooth over the awkwardness, guiding Heisenberg and you to a plush seating
area, motioning for the other guests to go on like before. Karl dropped down onto the sofa with a
sigh, scratching his beard.

“You owe me big time for this.”

You rolled your eyes and sat down next to him, patting his thigh calmly. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll clean out
the drains outside next time, alright?”

Karl snorted, probably imagining you doing the task he hated most, then looked up when another
woman approached, holding out two glasses of what appeared to be red wine. Karl eyed the dark
liquid, probably recognizing it.

“It’s wine from House Dimitrescu.” The woman explained, smiling brightly when you two took the
glasses into your hands. “Our Lady's wine is truly unique.”

Fuck that, you knew exactly what was in that wine, no way in fucking hell will you-
Karl took a large swig without hesitation. You stared at him bewildered beyond anything and
disgusted. Why the hell would Karl drink human blood?!

He smacked his lips obscenely, grinning smugly. “Truly.”

The woman went away with a slight bow and you turned to face Karl, feeling nauseous. “What the
fucking hell Karl?!”

He chuckled and took another sip. “Relax, do you really think my sister would share her life
source? She also makes plain old normal wine.”

Your shoulders relaxed a little, but you couldn’t bring yourself to drink the wine anyway. The
image was already in your head, even if you trusted that Karl wouldn’t lie to you, especially not
about something like this.

You watched over the crowd, recognizing some nameless faces in their mitts from the farewell
gathering for Miranda. A few flustered glances from other women in the room caught your eye,
whispering to each other as they subtly pointed at Karl. That too, did remind you of the farewell
gathering.

You slowly slid closer to Karl in an attempt to “mark your territory” as it were, but you’d have to
be careful to not make it too obvious. Even if it wasn’t true, yet, the other Lords and Mother
Miranda believed you had an intimate relationship with Heisenberg, not a romantic one and that
needed to stay that way. You distantly wondered if the others would even care about town gossip.

The party continued on, the mood getting more relaxed as time went on, people seeming to adjust
to the presence of Heisenberg with them in the room. Occasionally someone would approach, offer
little snacks and drinks, or thanking Karl for something he had supposedly done. You felt like these
people were just getting fed by Mirandas lies, because Karl spends most of his time within the
factory, so how exactly was he the reason their crops were growing so well? Weird people indeed.

Even after a whole hour had passed, you were still watching out for the blushed cheeks and hushed
voices of the other women in the room, glaring the more aware you became of them.

“Are you alright? You look mighty pissed.” Karl noted after a while, elbowing you a little in your
side.

His voice snapped you out of it and you turned to face him with a smile. “What? I don’t know what
you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s pretend I believe you.” He snorted, looking around the room in an effort to
figure out what had upset you.

Apparently, he must’ve finally spotted the gaggling women, watching them through his sunglasses.
He leaned his head closer to yours.

“Are they bothering you?”

There was a hint of a threat in his voice, someone else might’ve not even noticed it, but you knew
him better than that.

“No.” You lied, arms crossing over your chest and avoiding his burning gaze.
“Aha…” He growled lowly, a warning. “Tell me what’s going on or I’m calling my hammer.”

As if to make sure you got how serious he was, he stretched his hand out, palm open and ready to
catch.

You snatched his arm and pulled it back down, hissing. “Fucks sake, Karl! You can’t just go around
destroying shit when you don’t get your way.”

He rolled his eyes. “Please, I could smash their whole home into pieces and they would thank me
for it.”

Albeit probably true, which only made these people seem even more strange to you, you still
wouldn’t risk it. Luiza didn’t deserve to be punished for nothing.

“Fine. They’ve been eyeing you up and down since we sat down.” You finally admitted, feeling
ridiculous for being jealous.

Karl shrugged nonchalantly. “And? They also pray over my picture in the church, what’s your
point?”

You refused to grace him with an answer, anger flaring up. You got the feeling he was playing with
you, trying to get a rise out of you for his own enjoyment and today you didn’t feel like it.

That, however, wasn’t true. Karl was genuinely confused and was trying to figure out why you got
so mad. He just had trouble getting that across to you.

“D-Do you want me to say something?”

“No, that’ll only give them your attention.” You growled and something about the way you said it
must’ve given him a hint.

“Are you jealous?” He finally asked, smirking brightly.

“Me? Jealous? Why should I?” You said sarcastically. “Because other women are imagining what
you look like naked?”

Karl snorted, amused by your act. “S’not like they have to imagine.”

He must’ve realized he shouldn’t have said that the same time as you did, glaring at him as he took
another sip of his wine.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

He looked anywhere but your face, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. “I eh…They kinda saw
me naked?”

Your mouth dropped open, though closed shortly after. You already suspected Karl had been
intimate with someone before, he didn’t seem like the type of guy that only had sex with someone
that actually interested him. You had no right to be jealous or even mad at the women he had in his
past, for they weren’t anywhere close to the position you had in his life now.

But the way they whispered among themselves, probably talking about how he had taken them
apart was irritating you to the point where you shot up from your seat. As one of the honoured
guests, the attention your fast-moving had was immediate, everyone looking at you.

You ignored their curious glances and stomped off towards the door, deciding to leave. You knew
Karl was quick to follow, could tell that by the surprised little gasps you heard behind you. You
thought you saw Luiza trying to ask him what about the party had upset you, but he ignored her to
go after you.

It was ridiculous, the jealous rage in you very unfamiliar. Why were you so angry? Karl had every
right to seek out someone to have as a lover, as long as it was in the time before you two got closer,
why was it making you so angry?

At the entryway, Karl had caught up to you, grabbing his hammer quickly as you pushed open the
doors to the outside.

“Y/N, I’m a little lost right now!” He admitted, doing a little jog to get to your side. “I get that
you’re jealous, but why are you pissed at me now?”

“I’m not mad at you.” You said through gritted teeth.

“Sure, that’s why you’re summoning a damn storm right now.” He groaned, getting annoyed. “I
thought you wanted me to be honest!?”

You ignored him, your steps getting faster. You just wanted to get back to the factory and forget
about the many other people that had the privilege of getting fucked by Karl before you. That made
you pause, steps coming to a halt.

Funny enough, Karl had used his hammer to block your way at the same time, trying to get you to
stop walking and talk to him.

“I had assumed we were over this whole ‘capture you to get you to talk’ thing, sweetheart.”

“Y-Yeah…” Was all you could respond, frowning at the weird turn your jealously had taken.

Karl frowned as well, noticing the sudden change of attitude. “Okay, what the hell just happened?”

You turned your head to look at him. “I’m sorry, I promise I’m not mad at you.”

His hammer flew back to its master's hand, Karl swinging it back over his shoulder. “So, then
what? Did the village girls say something?”

“No, at least I don’t know what they’ve said.” You sighed, rubbing both of your hands up and down
your face. “God, I just made a fucking scene over nothing.”

Karl shrugged and approached you fully. “Don’t worry. It’s not like Mother Miranda or the other
Lords will get wind of this, so who cares?”

You leaned your forehead against his chest, trying to hide from the world. “I care! Luiza was so
nice to us and-and I just…”

“Calm down, shit like that happens.” He tried to soothe, putting his free arm around you. “Though I
still don’t really get what bothered you that much. Did you take me for some kind of blushing
virgin and are now mad that I’m not?”
“Shut up.” You snarled with no venom to it. “Can we just go home?”

Karl sighed dramatically. “Alright fine.”

You two started walking back to the factory, more quiet than you were used to. You were trying to
figure out where that change in attitude came from. You were 100% sure you weren’t disappointed
that Karl had relations before you, because you expected as much. So that left only the other
participants; The women.

But that too, was ridiculous. You arrived at this village only about half a year ago, Karl had spent
most of his life here as did the villagers. You couldn’t be mad that people, who didn’t even know
you existed by then, used to fuck.

You tried to look deeper inside yourself, trying to figure this out, but the screeching of the factory
doors interrupted you. How the hell are you already back?

Karl gently grabbed your hand before you could step inside. “Hey listen, there’s a cloud in our
room and I’m not in the mood to get electrified, so could you at least try and not do that?”

You rolled your eyes with another annoyed groan. “I told you I’m not mad at you!”

Karl did improve on having patience with you, but it was running thin at this point. “Then what are
you mad about if it's not my dick being in other women?!”

That statement took you aback, your mouth falling open with a quiet gasp. Something clicked into
place inside your mind, the fog clearing up. Other women, as in, not you.

You prided yourself with being the first person in Karls life that he cared for since Miranda took
him in. Up until now, you felt superior to the other kinds of relations he had before you, but seeing
them flaunting over him now, made you realize that they had something with him that you didn’t.
You might have romance, maybe even love, but they also held something that you didn’t have,
which was the intimacy of having sex with him.

Heisenberg let go of your hand, reluctantly taking a step back, mistaking your shock for disbelieve
over his words. “Okay, that’s on me. Shouldn’t have said it like that.”

“Karl, I want to have sex with you.”

Your confession hung in the air like wet clothes hung out to dry. Karl took off his sunglasses to take
a better look at you, confused.

“Did we just have two entirely different conversations? Like what the fuck, Y/N.”

You stepped up to him again, determination was written over your face. “These women intimidated
me.”

Somewhere behind you, metal began to rattle as Karl grew angrier. “They threatened you?”

“Not like that!” You were quick to clarify. “I’m jealous because they had something with you that I
don’t.”

A long and tired exhale left him, the metal behind you settling again. “Why didn’t you just tell me
at the party?”
“Because I wasn’t sure why I got upset myself.” You admitted, leaning up to press an apologetic
kiss to his lips. “I’m sorry, you must think I’m crazy now.”

Karl chuckled teasingly. “Came to that realization long ago, doll.”

You returned his chuckles, yelping when he suddenly swept you up and into his arms, proceeding
to carry you inside.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, seems to me you need someone to give you a good seeing to and unless the Soldats are
doing it for you now, I’m afraid it’s going to be me.” He growled seductively.

“Oh no, how horrible.” You giggled nervously, leaning up to kiss his cheek as he carried you off to
bed.
 Love For The First Time
Chapter Notes

This chapter is just full-on Smut! If sex isn't your thing, or it makes you uncomfortable, I
recommend only reading the bottem part of this chapter for the very important revalation!

You were about to have sex with Karl Heisenberg.

You couldn’t even comprehend it, sitting on the bed with your legs hugged to your chest, both
excited beyond belief and nervous. Just about an hour ago, you were burning up with jealous rage
at the women Karl had slept with and now you were in their spot, as it were.

He wanted to prove his devotion to you, show you that he cares and would treat you and your body
with kindness and respect. You were ready for it.

Karl stood at the end of the bed, watching you carefully. “You know, if you’re still upset, we don’t
have to do this.”

You sighed deeply, unfurling your legs and relaxing a little. “I’m just nervous, you know?”

He nodded, giving you a calm smile. “That’s okay, I’m nervous as hell too.”

“Really?” You asked, tilting your head a little. “You have so much experience.”

“But this right here isn’t the same as what I did with those women from the village.” He explained.
“Besides my parents, you’re the only person in my life that I ever cared about. This is new territory
for me.”

You took that in, relaxing further. You two would figure it out together, just like everything else that
had happened. You were in this together.

Taking your silence as a good sign, Karl approached you. He had taken off everything from the
waist up already, giving you full view over his brought shoulders, muscular arms and the little band
of fat over his stomach that rounded him up. You of course also saw the big V-shaped Cadou scar,
something that would connect you two forever, if only because of Mother Miranda.

“Are you ready?” He asked, voice low and almost purring.

“Yeah.” Your voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard you.

Heisenberg climbed onto the bed, taking one of your hands in his own and bringing the limb up to
his lips. You felt his scar on his bottom lip as he began trailing a slow pattern of kisses up your arm.
Goosebumps erupted wherever his lips touched your skin and you blushed when he would close his
eyes, as if to savour the feeling.
Once he met your clothed shoulder, he glanced up to your eyes, looking for any sign of disapproval
so far. He found none and went in for a kiss, his hands grabbing your hips and tugging you closer to
him. You reciprocated the kiss with passion, your hands running over his chest, delighted in his
chest hair.

Karl pushed your shirt up enough to get his hands on the skin of your waist and you exhaled
shakily at the feeling. With precise and fast movements, Karl pulled the top over your head, your
lips parting for only a split second to do so.

You let yourself be pushed back, falling on your back with your head resting on the pillows.
Heisenberg made sure to continue the kiss, his tongue asking for permission to enter your mouth
and you couldn’t help but moan as you accepted the wet muscle into your body.

Karl panted quietly in between desperate slides of your lips against each other, giving you a full-on
groan when your hands went to his hair. His thigh pressed between your open legs, giving your clit
just the littlest bit of friction, just to keep you interested. You pushed your back up when you felt
one of his hands trying to slide into the space between your body and the mattress, going for the
claps of your bra.

He fumbled with them a little, both of you chuckling and giggling into the kiss at the slight
awkwardness until he managed to open them up. You grabbed the bra yourself, pulling it aside and
then throwing it somewhere off the bed, not caring where it landed.

The kiss broke off, Karl pushing himself up so he could take your body in. Hunger shined in his
eyes as his gaze wandered over the swell of your breast, your nipples already peaked in arousal.
Even with the proof of Miranda's hands on you, being the big scar, he looked at you like you were
the most precious thing on earth.

“You still alright?” He asked, kissing your forehead when you reassured him.

His mouth moved down to your neck, sucking the skin between his teeth, gently worrying it in his
mouth until a bruise formed. Your nails digging into the skin of his back, shacking breaths leaving
your throat as you stretched your neck to give him more space to work with. His warm tongue
licked over the abused skin almost apologetically, before he chose another spot to repeat the action.

He continued to mark you with his bites and hickeys, not satisfied until your neck and collarbones
were covered in his markings. Karl displayed a possessiveness over you he hadn’t shown before as
he looked over the proof of his devotion to you, a low growl rumbling out from deep within his
chest. His fiery gaze combined with the almost animalistic sound made you shiver, arousal flushing
your skin.

Without another moment of hesitation, he dove down and sucked one of your nipples into his warm
mouth, gently rolling and pinching the other one with his fingers. Your back arched against his
willing mouth, wanting to get more. You moaned when his teeth grazed over your sensitive skin,
Karl being quick when he changed to the other nipple.

And then he started talking.

“Fuck, do you have any idea how hard I am for you?”

As if to drive his words in further, he rubbed his groin against your thigh, his hardness pressing
against the fabric of his pants.
“I wanted to do this forever, but I was holding myself back because I didn’t want to push you.” He
confessed. “So, whenever I was alone I would take myself in hand, imagining you on your knees
for me.”

“K-Karl.” You keened his name, his words washing over you like hot lava.

The ache between your legs became unbearable and you reached down to open the zipper of your
pants, desperate to get the garment off. Karl caught on to this, reuniting your lips with his own as
he pushed your hand away to yank the pants off himself. You pushed them off fully with your legs,
your hands returning to his hair, grabbing and tugging at it.

Heisenberg groaned. “Fuck, what do you do to me?”

You reached for his trousers, pushing them down as best as you could from the angle you had. Karl
was more than happy to do the rest, pushing his pants down past his hips and awkwardly shrugging
them off his legs while still trying to continue the kiss.

For a brief moment, you felt anxiety and worry flash over your senses. What if you’d disappoint
him? What if you couldn’t bring him to the height of pleasure like the others before you had?

But then you caught sight of his hardness against his underwear, a wet spot already there, begging
for your attention. Your anxieties were forgotten as courage and want overtook your senses, your
hand laying over the outline of his cock. Heisenberg bucked into the touch with a strangled
whimper, your lips breaking apart. Your faces stayed close enough to feel one another's pants
against your skin.

“I want to make you feel good.” You confessed, slowly rubbing over his hardness. “Please, let me.”

He dropped his head down against your shoulder, arms trembling as he chuckled. “How could I say
no to that?”

You leaned your head down to kiss his neck, your hands moving to his chest to gently push him off
and over, your positions changing with him laying on his back and you sitting up next to him. Karl
propped himself up against the wall, putting a pillow behind his back and getting comfortable.

You swung a leg over his hips to straddle him, both of you moaning lowly when you clothed sexes
made contact. You laid your hand against his cheek, thumbing over his cheekbone, enjoying the
scratching of his beard. He leaned into the touch gratefully, turning his head a little to press a kiss
to your palm.

You put both your hands on his shoulders and leaned forward to kiss him, lifting your hips up and
part with Karls. Heisenberg's hands came to rest on both sides of your face, holding you there like
he couldn’t allow you to pull away. You moved one hand down his chest, gracing over one of his
nipples, making him shudder. You grinned into the kiss, your hand finishing its journey as it
grasped Karls length through the fabric, making him roll his hips up wantonly.

Taking pity on him, you pushed his underwear down just enough to free his erection, pulling away
from the kiss to get a proper look at it. The length was impressive and the width just right for your
hand to comfortably wrap around it. A bead of precum glimmered at the top and it felt like it was
calling for you.
You pumped your hand up and down in a comfortable rhythm, twisting your wrist a little every
now and then. Karl let his head drop back against the wall, eyes closed in bliss as he let you explore
his most intimate area, watching closely to see what had him give you the best moans, made his
body jerk the most.

You pushed his legs further apart, settling down between them to lay on your stomach. You pressed
a timid kiss to the base of his cock, snickering with embarrassment as his head shot back up so he
could watch.

His hand curled around your chin, a smirk forming on his lips. “You look great like this.”

“I look even better doing this.” You said seductively, your tongue darting out to collect the beat of
precum, making Karl groan with satisfaction.

The hand on your chin went up to your hair, pulling it back and out of your face, holding it tightly
at the back of your head as you continued giving tiny kitten licks to the head of his cock. You
wanted to give him more, make him feel as good as possible, so you opened your mouth wide and
tried to swallow him down in one go, only to gag about halfway down.

Karl pulled on your hair to get you to come back up, not having expected you to go in that fast.
“Holy fuck, sweetheart! You alright?”

You coughed and laughed at the same time, cheeks turning to a dark crimson from embarrassment.
You grew self-conscious, thinking that little mishap might’ve turned down the mood, but Karl
tugged you back closer by your hair.

His heated gaze scanned your face. “I’ll show you, hmm?”

“Stick your tongue out.” He instructed first, guiding your head so the tip of his dick laid on your
tongue.

Heisenberg took his time to move your head the way he wanted, breathing getting more and more
shallow as time went on, the hand in your hair trembling with the effort of holding himself back.
You followed his teachings, relaxing your throat as best as you could. At some point, Karls hand in
your hair stopped pulling and was just holding your hair back, letting you do as you pleased, which
enticed many sounds of pleasure from both of you.

“A-Alright, Y/N. Take a break.” Karl said after a while, you pulling off with a little disappointed
frown.

He chuckled lightly, caressing your cheek lovingly. “Don’t worry, darling. You did great and we’re
not even close to done.”

That these words made you even more turned on was a welcomed surprise for you, but you
couldn’t think too much about it as within a single blink you found yourself back on your back,
rough hands tearing down your underwear. Karl couldn’t hold back anymore, needed to return the
favour.

His hands wrapped around your thighs, making sure they’re staying open as he immediately dove
in to taste you. His tongue flicked over your clit in a fast and rapid rhythm, making you cry out
with the shocks of pleasure that suddenly wracked your body and mind. The sounds he made as he
ate you out like a starved man were obscene, which in turn had you writhe against his face even
more.

You were aching for so long that it wasn’t a surprise that your first orgasm was fast approaching.
“K-Karl I’m…I’m-“

Heisenberg replaced his tongue with his thumb, drawing circles and pushing himself up so he could
watch your face. “Go on, I want to see your face when I make you come.”

You didn’t disappoint, a high keen pushing through your throat as your first high hit, body
spasming and hips bucking against his hand to ride the waves of pleasure. Another possessive
growl left Karl as he kissed you roughly before going back down your body.

His thumb didn’t stop stimulating your clit as he used his tongue to prod against your dripping
opening, entering your wet heat by licking inside.

You wondered how Karl had so much restraint earlier, when your hand fisted into his hair and
shamelessly pushed him against your core, desperate pleas for more spilling from your lips.

He made you come on his tongue, his beard glistening with your juices when he let up. He wiped
his chin with the back of his hand. “You taste fucking amazing.”

As if to prove that statement, he kissed you again, pushing his tongue into your mouth to share your
taste with you. He settled between your open legs, continuing to your making out, until you heard
the sound of foil being ripped.

Karl was pulling out a condom from its packaging, seeing your unasked question on your face.

“Got some from the Duke. Can’t risk a mini Karl running around here, can we?”

The thought of a child being born into the mess you two were already stuck in gave you an almost
stabbing-like pain in your chest and you pushed the thought aside to not ruin the mood. Karl
pushed his shorts off all the way, then rolled the rubber over his cock, exhaling shuddering breaths
from the stimulation before he settled back between your legs.

He held himself up with one hand, using the other to hold his length as he rubbed the head along
your slickness.

Nerves started to flare up again and Karl was fast to reassure you.

“If it hurts, or if you change your mind, do not hesitate to tell me.”

“Y-Yeah, I promise.”

“Fucking punch me if you must.” He added, making you giggle and relax again.

With that, he pushed the tip in and stayed still, letting you adjust to his presence first. Your vagina
was wet enough so it didn’t hurt, perse, but the stretch was new and the feeling of being split open
uncomfortable at first.

Sweat glistened over Heisenberg's skin with the force he had to use to hold himself still, which
made you feel all warm and fuzzy. He was doing his very best to make sure you’re comfortable and
happy, and for a moment you thought it must be a little painful for him to fight against his own
urges.

But your worries were quickly pushed away by the warmth that spread from your chest out and into
every section of your body as he smiled down at you.

“Y-You can move.” You whispered up to him, your hand running up his arm and to his neck as he
carefully pushed his hips forward.

Your walls accepted him, pulsing against his member as he whispered sweet nothings into your ear
when you whimpered with the intensity of it all.

“You’re taking me so well, doll.”

“Fuck, you feel so good.”

“Almost there, you’re being so good, sweetheart.”

Your head was spinning with all the emotions that swirled around your skull, your cloud that
floated somewhere above you changing its shape constantly, as if not sure what to express first.
Once Karl was flush against you, you could find some kind of focus again and it all went to the
man that was staring down at you lovingly.

“Karl…” You moaned his name quietly, pushing his hair from his face that had stuck to the sweat
there.

He grinned down at you, as if knowing and experiencing the same turmoil inside himself as you
were. You hissed and bit your bottom lip, eyes closing, as he pulled back. He watched your face
carefully as he began moving inside of you, looking out for any sign of discomfort and as he found
none, he grew bolder and sped up his thrusts.

Karl changed the angle a couple of times, smiling proudly once he found your G-spot, aiming to hit
it with every thrust, sending you down a spiral of pleasure you never felt before. He decided your
throat needed more proof of his presence on you, leaning down to give you another hickey. All the
while you moaned and groaned, keened and whimpered.

As you got more comfortable with his movement inside your body, you started rolling your hips in
time with his thrusts, experimentally flexing the muscles of your vagina.

“Ah, fuck!” Heisenberg growled at the sensation, his control slipping as he began to hammer away,
encouraged by your noises of pleasure.

You could tell he was indeed lost in his own head, but he wasn’t fully gone, still well aware that
you were the person he was fucking into oblivion.

Your third orgasm hit you out of nowhere and you tensed up, back arching as you screamed Karls
name once more. Heisenberg grunted, feeling your walls pulse around him, trying to milk him dry
and he wanted nothing more than to let you. But first, he needed to continue thrusting, extend your
pleasure for as long as possible.

It took you being a heavily panting mess, twitching with overstimulation, for him to finally let go
and have his own orgasm. He moaned your name right into your ear and you shuddered as even
with the condom on, you could feel his cock pulsing and his cum pumping out of him.

He slumped against your body, your nails gently caressing his back as he slowly came down from
his high.

“Can I just stay like this?” He asked after a long silence, making you laugh.

“Sure, it’s not like your dick will get all wrinkly from being covered in cum all night.”

Karl lifted his head, pursing his lips with a playfully annoyed look. “Wow, aren’t you the romantic
type.”

You kissed him with a content sigh, wincing slightly at the discomfort when he pulled out. You
didn’t like him pulling away from you to stand up, pushing yourself up to your elbows to see what
he was doing. He went into the bathroom and came back out with a wet towel, which you eyed with
confusion at first. He’d also taken off the condom.

“Need to clean up the mess I made.” He shrugged, motioning for you to open your legs again.

“Would be the first time you did that.” You teased, which he ignored to get to the task at hand.

He crawled into the space between your knees and gently began to wipe away your excess slick.
Even though you two just had sex for the first time, this was the most intimate thing happening so
far. The way he checked your body reminded you a little of his medical examinations at the
beginning, but this time he was making sure he hadn’t hurt you in any way.

When Heisenberg decided you’re cleaned up efficiently, he placed a tender kiss just above your
mound, absentmindedly discarding the towel to the floor. He crawled up your body to finally kiss
you properly, laying down next to you and putting his arms around you.

You snuggled closer, your head resting on his chest, humming happily and enjoying the warmth
that spread through your body. Words that needed to be said laid at the tip of your tongue, just
waiting for you to find the courage.

“Hey Karl…I think I love you.”

“That sounds like a you-problem.” He responded, snickering to himself, but he could hide it as
much as he wanted, the excited beating of his heart that you felt underneath your head told you
everything you needed to know.

You already guessed that he wouldn’t say it back, even if you were sure he felt the same. Love is
something Karl isn’t used to, something he viewed as dangerous and actually voicing it is a big step
for him, so all you wanted to do right now is tell him that at least his feelings are reciprocated.

“But I guess I…don’t hate you.”

 Ice Cold

Four whole months had passed since then.

Karl and you were closer than ever, your relationship as strong as your will to kill Mother Miranda,
which meant a lot.

You still focused on channelling your power better, your cloud crown never far from your side.
Heisenberg had made a little machine for you to train with; Basically, you would direct lightning at
a little rod on top of it and the machine would tell you the voltage power you were creating. Thanks
to it, you were able to get control over how strong the bolts were and once you felt ready enough,
you took it to the next step.

“Hit it directly at the reactor.” Heisenberg had instructed, holding a lit cigar between his lips.

You stared at the lifeless Soldat that hung at the wall, aiming for the red centre of its chest and let a
single lightning bolt strike it. It took a lot of concentration, but you were getting used to it.

“Hold it…Just a little longer…” Karl said behind you, watching the scene carefully. He still feared
you getting hurt but stayed back at your insistence.

The creature began to move, its drill spinning and that had him clapping proudly. “Stop! Well done
you fucking brilliant woman!”

He rewarded you with a kiss, both of you looking at the result of all your hard work; The very real
prospect of a reliable power source to build your army with.

What little time you didn’t spend with training and working on your rebellion, Heisenberg made it
into his mission to fuck you over as many surfaces in the factory as possible.

The hunger you two had for each other was insatiable, you just couldn’t get enough of it. And
depending on the kind of mood you were in that day, the sex could be tender and sweet or rough
and almost brutal. You loved every second of it.

After the successful reanimation of the Soldat and a good round of fucking over Karls workbench,
you two decided you deserved a break. You wanted to stay in bed all day, napping and cuddling,
occasionally bringing each other off in any way possible. You were in the middle of doing all that
when it got interrupted.

The phone was ringing. Both of you groaned in annoyance at the insistent sound, Karl pulling a
pillow over his head in an effort to drown it out. You had half a mind to just let it ring on until
whoever called decided it was a waste of time, but ultimately forced yourself to get up and answer
it.

After all, it could be Moreau that wants to talk to you, or maybe Donna wanted to meet up. Maybe
Lady Dimitrescu got too bored in her castle and wanted to yell at you some more. You never know
until you answer it.

Karl fumbled blindly for your body when he felt you move, trying to take a hold of you and pull
you back into bed. You were faster though and managed to slip away.
“Just let it ring, Y/N. I don’t give a fuck about whoever it is.”

You ignored him, rubbing the sleepiness out of your eyes as you picked the phone up.

“Heisenberg's factory?”

“Y/N, how glad I am to hear your voice.”

Your whole body froze, fear creeping up your spine, your cloud immediately starting to let it snow
around you. Karl noticed the drop in temperature and looked up from under the pillow to see what
was going on.

You had enough control by now to not let your emotions dictate your clouds, unless the emotion
was very intense. He knew something was wrong.

“M-Mother Miranda?”

Heisenberg jumped out of bed immediately, rushing to your side at hearing her name, almost
slipping on the snow on his bedroom floor in his rush.

“Yes, I wanted to inform my son that I have returned. Is he not with you?” Miranda asked.

“O-Oh! Heisenberg is experimenting with the Cadou, as always. He’s a, erm…busy man. Can I
take a message for him?”

You struggled to keep your voice even and calm, Karl gently grabbing your hand in an effort to
comfort you. Tell you that you weren’t alone.

Mother Miranda hummed. “Ah yes, my son really is trying his best for me, isn’t he? Very well, I’m
calling in a meeting at the castle church this afternoon, I wish to share the information that I have
gathered with all of you. 4 pm sharp.”

“Of course, Mother Miranda.” You answered her in a monotone voice. “We’ll be there.”

With that, Miranda hung up, leaving only dread and fear in her wake. Slowly you put the phone
down, your hand shaking as tears gathered in your eyes. Karl hugged you tightly, shushing your
whimpers softly.

“It’s alright, we knew she’d come back eventually.”

You looked him in the eyes. “It’s not fucking alright, Karl! What if she has Eveline with her!? I-I
can’t let her k-kill…”

You couldn’t say it, your heart and mind wouldn’t let you, the pain too much to bear. Karl just
hugged you tighter, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“She won’t, at least not anytime soon, even if she has Eveline with her, which is highly unlikely.”

You breathed through your panic, inhaling the scent of Cuban cigars and motor oil you were
addicted to by now. You sighed and tried to relax against Karls warmth.

“Meeting at 4 pm at the castle church.” You finally informed him.

The noise that left his throat was all anger and irritation. “Already? Don’t people usually chill the
first day they come back home from their holidays?”

You huffed a dry laugh at his attempt at joking. “She’s not people, she’s just a bitch.”

It was a useless effort to lighten the mood, but at least you tried. What actually had you laughing
just then was when Karl cursed under his breath, complaining that his socks were wet now as the
snow had melted against the factory heat. You were barefoot and so spared from the wet-sock-
incident, which of course you had to make fun of.

“So, what exactly are we telling her when she asks what we were up to?” You asked.

Karl shrugged, looking over your cloud. “You can show off the progress you made, that’ll interest
her more than my results with the Cadou. And if she asks anyway, I’ll just tell her some random
shit I come up with.”

“Wow, that makes me less anxious.” You mumbled under your breath, not refusing when Karl made
you look at him.

“Whatever happens, you know you have to act devoted to her. Be humble about her fucked-up gift,
thank her and do not under any circumstances get pissed at whatever she tells us. All she needs to
see is one flicker of your lightning to know you disagree with her.”

“I’m better at controlling my power, Karl.” You hissed with little real fire behind it.

He pointed down at the puddle you were standing in. “You just made it snow inside, do I need to
say more?”

You rolled your eyes but ultimately had to agree with him. “Okay, I’ll keep it down.”

Karl kissed your forehead. “That’s my pet.”

The nickname has gotten to a point in which you didn’t even know if you hated or liked it anymore.
On one hand, you hated when Lady Dimitrescu called you that, making you look like a mindlessly
obedient dog just waiting to hump Heisenberg's leg.

On the other hand, Karl said it like you were something precious and important, someone who he
wanted to stay with him forever. Not to mention the times he used it during sex to praise you. When
he said it, you loved it.

The time to leave for the meeting came faster than either of you had anticipated and you soon
found yourself walking alongside Karl on the path towards the village. Worry and anxiety were
flooding your other senses, but you forced it all to stay behind a calm façade. Your cloud hung high
in the sky, following you without anyone noticing as the villagers greeted and praised the both of
you. You caught sight of Luiza, the middle-aged woman avoiding your gaze.

You felt the need to talk to her and tell her that you weren’t angry with her, but knew Karl wouldn’t
let you, at least not right now while Mother Miranda was waiting for you. You didn’t want to cause
another scene, so you just continued walking. Before you reached your destination, you called your
cloud back down to rest over your head again.
You arrived at the gloomy church, Lycans climbing along the walls and staring down with interest
as you entered the room. Donna, Angie and Lady Dimitrescu were already there, sitting in their
usual spot.

“Ah, little brother and his pet are…” Lady Dimitrescu trailed off from whatever snide comment she
wanted to make, inspecting your crown with interest. “Oh, now what is that.”

“I’d recommend you stop trying to piss her off.” Karl snickered, dropping onto his pew and tabbing
the spot beside him to signal you to sit down. “Y/N has made quite the progress.”

Moreau trailed into the room just then, greeting everyone with an excited tone in his voice,
interrupting the ensuing bickering. He too, of course, spotted your new accessory and did his best
of a sprint towards you to get a closer look, only for Karl to lift his leg up, making Moreau run into
his boot. You cringed at the disgusting squelching sound that came from the impact and also from
Moreau stumbling back.

“Back. The fuck. Off!” Heisenberg growled warningly at the other Lord, flashing his teeth like
some kind of animal ready to bite his head off.

“O-Of course! I-I-I’m sorry.” Moreau wailed, either in fear or pain.

You pushed Karls leg back down with a harsh push, rolling your eyes. “For fucks sake, he just
wants to look at it!”

Karl muttered some curses under his breath, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance when you
reached up and took the cloud in your hands, holding it out for Moreau to see.

The fish Lord approached hesitantly, eyes flashing from the cloud, to you and to Heisenberg. Angie
jumped out from Donnas lap.

“I wanna see too!”

The doll climbed into your lap, little hands waving through the mass in your hands as Moreau
leaned in to watch. Your nose scrunched up involuntarily at the smell he emitted, though you did
your best to hide it, even as Karl moved further away from you three to escape it.

“What is it?” Moreau asked eventually.

“A cloud.” You explained, finding Angie's interest in it cute as she played with it. “Turns out I
wasn’t manipulating the weather but made and controlled the clouds.”

“Fascinating.” Lady Dimitrescu mumbled, taking a drag from a long cigarette she had lit. She tried
to hide it, but you were aware of the interest you had sparked in her.

Karl's lips twitched with annoyance and possessive rage, finally having enough. “Alright! Fuck off
already, leave her alone.”

Moreau waddled away immediately, back to his usual seat, but Angie stayed sitting in your lap
even after you had put the cloud back up. Probably a move of deviance against Heisenberg, who
slid back closer to you, glaring at the doll.

He looked about ready to punch the thing when Mother Mirandas laugh haled through the building.
“My dear Heisenberg, I see you’ve grown quite protective over Y/N.”

Karl flinched, a chill running down his spine, looking around to see where Miranda was. A flow of
crows stormed in from the opening in the ceiling, manifesting as Mother Miranda in front of her
throne-like chair.

He leaned back against the back of the pew, trying to play his behaviour off. “Can’t let my assistant
be distracted from the important things, can I?...”

Always the showman, he flashed her a charming smile. “…that being welcoming you back,
Mother.”

The act seemed to please Miranda, who you could tell was smiling proudly behind her mask.
“Thank you, Heisenberg.”

Lady Dimitrescu was quick to put in her voice as well, wanting to gain Miranda's favour. “We have
been terribly lonely in your absence.”

“V-very, mommy!” Moreau chimed in, his eyes bright with love. He was your friend, but right then
you wanted to strangle him until all the goo inside him was squeezed out.

“Yes, yes. I have missed you too, my dear children.” Mother Miranda said, her voice not portraying
the love she apparently had for all of you. “But alas, we have important matters to discuss. Before I
elaborate on my findings, I’d like to see what progress you’ve made, Y/N.”

She motioned for you to take a stand in the middle of the room, all eyes burning holes into your
skin as they watched you do so. Karl tensed up as soon as Miranda addressed you and was more
attentive than he was in a long time during these meetings. Absentmindedly, he lit a cigar.

You stood there for a moment, uncertain if you were supposed to wait for Miranda to talk again as
Alcina snapped at you.

“Go on, pet! Stop wasting everyone's time!”

You cringed at her nickname for you, again both hating and loving it, as you knew Heisenberg had
adopted the term. Mother Miranda said nothing as you reached up and took your cloud crown back
into your hand.

You held it out for her to see. “Lord Heisenberg and I have discovered that I can control and
produce clouds. It wasn’t the weather itself that I was changing.”

Mother Miranda took a few steps closer, inspecting the floating mist curiously. “And what exactly
can you do with it?”

“I was able to summon lightning, rain and snow. I’ve gotten better at controlling the things I can
do, only messing up when I’m driven into really intense emotions.” You explained hesitantly,
pushing away your fear as she started to touch your cloud. You couldn’t let it change in any shape
or form.

“Can you make clouds at your own will?” She asked, walking back up to her throne.

You shrugged a little. “I’m struggling with it still. I was able to keep this cloud at my side but am
having trouble summoning more without it being on accident.”
As her cold gaze graced your face, you quickly added. “But I’m working on it and am making
progress!”

She hummed thoughtfully before she turned her head towards Heisenberg. “And am I to assume,
since you call her your assistant, she’s been helping you do your experiments?”

Karl nodded, the lies slipping from his tongue without an issue. “Yep, been especially focused on
finding out what her lightning does to the Cadou before and during implantation.”

Miranda tilted her head a little, clearly interested. “Do report to me if you make any significant
findings.”

Heisenberg answered with a little head bow. “Of course, Mother Miranda.”

Mother Miranda waved at you to get back to your seat, satisfied with your little performance. “I am
very pleased with you two, the fates must’ve given me a gift when they brought you two together.”

Your face was a mask as she said that, but Karl couldn’t stop the little twitch of anger in the corner
of his lips. Miranda didn’t notice, thankfully, and continued on with the most pressing matter.

“Now, as to not keep you longer in suspense.” She sighed dramatically, almost theatrical. “I regret
to say that Eveline has indeed passed.”

“I thought you said she survived the accident?” Angie spoke up, her shrill voice bouncing around
the room and Donna gently laid her hand over her tiny mouth.

Miranda took an audibly deep breath, as if on the verge of an outburst, but collecting herself before
it happened.

“She has survived the accident. The family she had been taken in by were deeply infected by the
mold, as was the caretaker she had taken with her.”

She paused and you noticed her fingers were flexing against the armrest of her chair. “But Eveline
was killed by said caretakers husband.”

“As in; A simple mortal?” Lady Dimitrescu asked to clarify, clearly confused and in disbelieve.

“Yes, a simple man by the name of Ethan Winters,” Miranda explained, one hand coming up to rub
her temple, as if she had a headache. “His wife, Mia Winters, had been under Eveline's influence
for almost three years. Apparently, Eveline saw Mia as a better-suited mother for herself than I
could’ve been.”

The anger in Mother Miranda's voice made you anxious, subconsciously slipping closer to Karl as
she continued to tell her story.

“And Eveline wanted a father too, so she mind-controlled Mia into sending Ethan a message to
come to get her. Her plan must’ve been to infect Ethan and make her family whole, but that man
not only survived his own wife cutting off his hand…”

Karl couldn’t help but snicker to himself. “Well someone is getting a divorce.”

Miranda continued on, as if he said nothing at all. “…But he also killed one family member of the
Bakers after the other, leaving only the two adult children Lucas and Zoe Baker behind. He even
managed to find a cure that he injected into Mia. Eventually, he caught up with Eveline and killed
her before escaping.”

“If I may ask.” Lady Dimitrescu interjected. “Why have you not taken the Winters into your care? I
think that Ethan fellow would’ve been an interesting subject.”

Miranda may have rolled her eyes, you couldn’t quite tell with the mask on. “Of course I wanted to
do so. But I wasn’t the only one that got made aware of Eveline's survival. The Umbrella
corporation swept in as soon as Ethan killed Eveline, taking the Winters into their protection and
away from my sight. The mission was led by none other than Chris Redfield himself, which is
curious, to say the least.”

Yet again, you didn’t understand who these people were supposed to be but stayed quiet for now.
Karl will surely explain everything after the meeting.

“Too bad.” Moreau mumbled to himself.

“But not to worry.” Mother Miranda said and you didn’t need to see it to know she was smiling like
the villain she is. “I have already used some of my connections to get a small team to track them
down. I will keep an eye on them. Both have been touched by the mold, so they might still be of
use to me someday.”
 Bound To You
Chapter Notes

I hope everyone is doing ok! Thank you all for so many Kudos, commends and hits!

“That. BITCH!” Karl was yelling, not even waiting until you were back in the safety of the factory,
but instead choosing to unleash his anger on the lawn outside.

You watched warily as the junk and scrap that littered the dried-up grassland began to shake and lift
into the air. “Karl, I think you should calm down.”

He either didn’t hear you or just straight up ignored your recommendation. “Like who the fuck
does she think she is?!”

The car that you once used to climb up to the roof lifted into the air as well, Karl not even having to
think about it, which was both impressive and terrifying.

He changed his voice to be ridiculously high-pitched. “The fates must’ve given me a gift when they
brought you two together!”

The floating metal rattled dangerously and you crept closer to Karl, hoping that if he explodes and
forgets you’re with him, you’d at least not get hit if you stayed close to him. He wouldn’t hit
himself in his anger, would he?

“Gift! How has that bitch not realized that there are no gifts in this rotten village?! We’re no damn
gift, we’re the ones who will fuck. Her. Up!”

He laughed like a manic as the metal sizzled through the air in all different directions, the car
ending up somewhere behind the factory and you could only roughly make out the location because
you heard the tell-tale sound of something big smashing against the fence.

Despite your better judgement, you flinched and pressed yourself to Karls back, some of your
earlier fear of him shining back through. That finally had him stop and take in what he was doing,
turning around to look at you.

Karl's fingers were gentle when they touched your cheek, lightly at first to ask for permission,
before he laid his hand over your skin. While your cheek rested in his palm, his fingers went
through your hair and to the back of your head, so he could pull you closer and kiss your forehead
apologetically.

You melted against his lips with a relieved sigh. “You know, you’re wrong. There are gifts in this
place.”

Karl pulled away with a warning snarl. “This shit won’t work if you disagree-“

You cut him off. “You’re a gift. To me anyway.”

His face dropped, going completely neutral for a few seconds. A light blush began to cover his
cheeks as he turned his face away, a nervous chuckle rolling off his lips.

“Do I have a fucking ribbon on my head or something?”

You let his head stay in this position but leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, before
letting up and walking off towards the front doors, disappearing inside. Karl needed a minute to
gather his senses again before he followed you in.

He found you in your room, busy at the kitchenette on making dinner before you two would
eventually go back to work. He stepped up to your back, leaning forward until he could
comfortably rest his head on your shoulder, his arms hugging you loosely around your waist.

You smiled happily at the affection he showed you, continuing to cook. “You calmed down?”

Heisenberg hummed in affirmation, placing a gentle bite to the juncture where your neck meets
your shoulder. “You really know how to make my brain reboot.”

You took that as a compliment, deciding to start asking about the meeting. “What is that Umbrella
Corporation Miranda was talking about?”

“Miranda had some sort of student some time ago,” Karl explained. “Os…Oscar? Nah, hold on.”

He went quiet for a minute, thinking before finding the name in the depts of his brain. “Oswell!
Oswell E. Spencer!”

Then he went on. “Miranda and he were doing research together for a while, but ultimately he left
to do his own research, because their goals didn’t line up anymore. Miranda wants Eva, Oswell
wanted the whole damn world.”

“And that Oswell went off and built a corporation?” You asked to clarify.

Karl nodded. “He made the Umbrella Corporation. They did research and create bioweapons,
capture others and shit like that, hiding it all behind the façade of a pharmaceutical company.
Wanted to use the bioweapons to make a superhuman race so Oswell could take over the world,
blah blah blah…”

“Wanted?” You pointed out. “As in, not anymore?”

“They had some kind of reform, I think. Oswell died some time ago and It’s not like Miranda really
cares about them, she’d take them all out if they even tried to come near her and her precious Eva.”

“And who is that Chris Redfield dude?” You asked further.

“Boulder punching dick,” Karl mumbled, more to himself than to you. “He’s been fighting the
Umbrella Corporation for a good decade or so. Kinda weird that he worked with them now.”

“Well, you said they had a reform.” You shrugged, shacking him off to get two plates from the
cabinet, filling them with the food you’ve cooked.

Karl grumbled something as he followed you to the table, clearly not pleased with the fact that
you’ve shacking him off of you. You motioned for him to sit down and eat, which he did with some
more complaints.
“You know, I remember how mad you got when I wouldn’t eat at the beginning, so shut up and
eat.” You demanded, making him raise a brow as a challenge.

“I’d rather eat you.”

You blushed at the look he gave you but smirked. “Maybe as dessert.”

Karl growled lowly, seductively almost, as he took his first bite. “Deal, sweetheart.”

You sat down next to him, starting to eat yourself, only to stop a few bites in as Heisenberg all but
devoured the meal you’ve cooked. His plate was empty in the span of five minutes at best and he
slammed the utensils down with a prideful grin.

“Dessert?”

You rolled your eyes at him, continuing to eat. “I’m still eating, Karl. You wouldn’t want me to
starve, do you?”

“I’m starving!” He complained instead.

You couldn’t hide the quiet chuckle that left you. “Still hungry then? I can make you another plate.”

You started to get up, not really intending to make good on it, but Karl grabbed your wrist all the
same, pulling you back down.

“Don’t test my patience today, I’ve been pent up all day.” He warned, his voice deep and almost
like a purr. “That can be a dangerous game to play, buttercup.”

You sighed, continuing to eat while Heisenberg watched you like a hawk, just waiting for you to
take the last bite. As soon as the last bit of your food disappeared, Karl jumped up from his chair,
grabbing your waist and hoisting you up and over his shoulder.

You laughed at his playfulness, yelping in surprise when he all but threw you down onto the
mattress. You had half a mind to complain but no words could escape your throat as Karl was over
you, pressing his lips to yours insistently. Always the multitasker, he was also busy opening your
pants and pushing them down along with your underwear, letting you kick them off all the way.

Your lips parted with a wet smack, his head immediately disappearing down your body as he went
straight to your heated core. He licked a slow, flat stripe up from your opening to your clit,
savouring the shaking of your legs as you pushed them further apart.

Almost automatically, your hands went for his hair, but retreated as he gave you a warning growl.

“Hands to yourself, pet. This is my treat.”

You moaned loudly, both from his words and from his lips enveloping your clit, alternating
between sucking and flicking his tongue over it. It didn’t take long for you to drip with want, trying
to hold still and not roll your hips against Karl's face.

It was maddening. “Karl! P-Please more…”

You whined pathetically as he let up entirely instead, snarling up at you. “You complaining, pet?
You get what I give, you hear me?”
“Yes!” You answered, embarrassed at how easily he could play you.

But as his mouth returned to where you wanted it most, you couldn’t find the will to be mad about
it. You got the feeling Karl didn’t entirely mean his words, as he started to trace his index finger
along your slit, slicking it up before gently pushing it inside your wet heat. He started thrusting it in
leisurely, adding his middle finger into the mix soon after.

You had sex enough times by now for him to know exactly where the most sensitive spots inside
you were hidden, so it wasn’t a surprise when he crocked his fingers just right to hit your G-spot.
The thrusts speeded up, along with his tongue that was still abusing your clit, driving you mad with
all the pleasurable shocks he inflicted.

A tight, heated coil formed inside your belly, just waiting for the right moment to unfurl in a fury of
pleasure. Karl unleashed it by giving a long, continuous suck to your bud while also hammering
away at the spot that made you see stars.

A long, drawn-out “Fuck!” left your lips as your orgasm hit with its full force, your back arching.
Karl continued his ministrations until you were writhing with overstimulation, giving one last
parting kiss to your folds before he gave you space to breathe.

“That good, huh?” He grinned smugly as he took in your state, scratching his beard
absentmindedly.

“Y-You…” You sighed, out of breath. “You’re a horny bastard.”

Karl laughed openly about the comment, one hand coming down to grab his straining erection
through his pants. “And you’re my little pervert.”

You reciprocated his grin, rolling over until your head was hanging off the edge of the bed, hoping
Karl would get what you were trying to do. He did, getting off the bed and opening his pants while
approaching your head, mouth already opened wide.

Karl fed his cock into your mouth, his other hand reaching down to grab your throat, groaning as he
felt his length move inside it.

“Fuck, I don’t think I’ll ever have enough of this.”

You wanted to tell him that neither could you, but it was rude to talk with your mouth full, right?

You let Karl use your mouth for his own pleasure, relaxing your throat as best as you could and
giving it some suction, relishing in his praise and moans. Not only your hold over your powers had
improved over the months.

As he got close to his peak, you decided his “no-touch” rule could go fuck itself, your hands sliding
around his hips until you could dig your nails into the flesh of his ass, making him jerk forward
involuntarily and with that, deeper into your throat.

You choked a little but that only drove him deeper into sexual madness, releasing his seed with a
strangled moan of your name, staying perfectly still afterwards to make sure you swallowed every
single drop. Then, he slowly pulled out to let you breathe again.
As you lazily rolled back around to lay comfortably on the bed, Karl kicked his pants off all the
way before crawling onto the mattress to join you. As he kissed you, you shared the taste of each
other with your tongues, a lovely haziness overtaking your senses before Karl dropped down beside
you, gathering you in his arms.

You relaxed against his body with a satisfied sigh, pressing a kiss to his chest, his hair there tickling
your nose.

Karl, of course, had to ruin the afterglow though. “I think Miranda is planning something big with
the Winters.”

With an annoyed huff, you lifted your head back up to look at his face. “Why the fuck are you
talking about Miranda after fucking my face?”

Heisenberg sucked in a startled breath. “Oh erm…Forget it?”

Your head dropped back down, trying to get back into the relaxed mood from before, but it was too
late. “Got any idea what she’s up to?”

Karl chuckled tiredly as you brought it up again. “Don’t know. Just the way she talked about them,
you know? Maybe she has an idea, wants to harvest their DNA or something.”

“I hope the Winters aren’t as special as she thinks they are.” You cringed, as if on reflex laying a
hand protectively over Karl's heart. “Can’t have them bringing her closer to resurrecting Eva.”

He took your hand off his heart and brought it up to kiss your palm. “Love it when you get all
protective over me and shit, really gets my motor going.”

He wasn’t lying, his spend cock twitching slightly in interest as it laid against his thigh. You
ignored it, for now, to lean back up and kiss him softly.

“Listen, whatever happens, I’ll stay at your side and will do anything to take down Mother Miranda
with you.”

A wave of various emotions rushed over Karls face, which usually meant he would start playing
whatever you said off as if it meant nothing. It’s what he always did as a sort of reflex to protect
himself from future hurt, but this time, he didn’t.

Instead, he hugged you tightly, pressing his cheek hard against the top of your head. “You swear?”

You smiled calmly, voice strong and even. “I swear on my life, Karl. Just like I trust you with my
life.”

“Don’t get soft on me, doll.” He whispered. “I’m a metal wielding maniac, remember?”

That brought an idea forth and you giggled with excitement as you told him about it. “Could you
make me a cuff to wear on my right forearm?”

He loosened up his hold on you, fixing on your face with a smirk. “Kinky, are we?”

You laughed and slapped his chest playfully. “Not like that, Karl…But well, we could use it for that
too, but that’s not what I mean.”
You gave him a determent look. “You could put your crest on it, so everyone knows who I belong
to.”

He liked that, you could tell. “Sure I can, but why only the right?”

“Because,” you explained, “that is my strong arm, the one I use most when wielding my powers.
You would have the control over it, could make me your puppet again.”

“Why would you want that?” He asked, growing confused. It was no secret how much you hated it
when he had taken you in, moving your body against your will as he pleased.

“That’s just it.” You grinned. “I trust that you would never again use that power against me. I trust
that even though you could, you never would.”

The ultimate sign of trust. Karl went painfully quiet for a minute, just looking at you with an
unreadable expression. Your request had thrown him off into a mix of emotions he couldn’t quite
place, but one thing he knew for sure.

“I’ll make you one from the most beautiful metal I can steal from the castle.”

It pushed the two of you into a fit of laughter, love and contentment surrounding you and you never
wanted it to end, even after Karl made a teasing suggestion of his own.

“You could brand your name on my ass, that’ll be funny as hell.”

Over the next week, he made good on his promise, making you distract Lady Dimitrescu and her
daughters so he could sneak around and steal some of her precious artefacts to use for his little
project.

The thrill it brought you was almost as good as the feeling you got when he was melting everything
down and putting it into moulds he had crafted. Warmth spread all over your body, as Karl didn’t
use his powers to create the cuff but made it all from his own hands.

He shaped the metal, occasionally putting a piece around your arm to make sure it measured
correctly. It was especially interesting to watch him create his crest, carving the details of the horses
face in with care and precision.

When at last the cuff was finished, you couldn’t help but feel like him putting it on was like a type
of wedding ceremony.

You sat on his workbench as he approached you, cuff in hand and a nervous smile on his lips. You
held your right arm out for him without hesitation, even if he couldn’t reciprocate that.

He looked from your arm to your face warily. “Are you really sure about this? Once it’s on, there’s
no way you can get it off without my help, and to be honest, I don’t think I could bring myself to
remove it again.”

You nodded, acknowledging the power you would give him over you, but no less determent. “I am
sure, Karl. I’m committed to you and to kill Mother Miranda.”

In a flash, he kissed you, growling possessively. “Maybe there are some gifts around this place.”
You both looked down at your arm as he snapped the cuff closed around your forearm, the sound
ringing in both of your ears. The metal bent slightly, making sure the seam on the underside was
closed together and intertwined into its two pieces, so it formed one solid plate again. It was on and
would not come off again.

You gently traced your fingers over the iron steed crest, looking up with teary eyes at the man you
had bound yourself to. “Thank you.”

Karl tried to act unaffected, but the shuddering breath that left his lips was enough to tell you how
close to an emotional outburst he was. He seemed to panic a little as he realized this too and you
did him the favour of hugging him, making sure his face was hidden from your view so he could let
the tears flow without having to see you.

He relaxed against your embrace, returning the hug tightly as he giggled quietly to himself,
probably accepting the fact of how good you knew him already.

The moment was very precious and delicate, and you wanted nothing more than to tell him you
loved him again, but the sting of the possibility that he wouldn’t say it back stopped you. You
didn’t want to push him, but you also didn’t want to hurt yourself.

So instead, you just held him until you would eventually return to build up your rebellion.
 Three Years (Part 1)

6 months later

“Karl, come with me, I want to show you something!”

The man in question took off his safety goggles and put down his electrifier, looking from the
Soldat he was working on up to you.

“Sweetheart, I’m a little busy right now.”

“I know.” You assured him, stepping up to him and putting your arms around his neck. “But I made
something and it’s kinda cool.”

Your cuff touched the skin at the back of his neck, and you have long found out that Karl loved to
have that little reminder of his presence on you in any way possible. It usually worked in your
favour.

He huffed and gave you a quick kiss. “Fine, you have ten minutes.”

You grinned and turned, grabbing his hand and dragging him behind you. You were currently on
the lowest floor of the factory and for what you wanted to show him, you’d need to get outside.
You were still confused about the layout of this massive building and would sometimes ask Karl if
you were going in the right direction to the elevator. He’d tease you for it relentlessly and you’d
roll your eyes.

Once in the elevator, you share some pleasant small talk with the Duke while Heisenberg lights a
cigar, pushing you out of the cart as soon as you reached the top floor. You’ve reached the outside
and you walked Karl to the middle of the yard.

“Okay, what is it?” Karl was growing impatient.

You pointed up, watching with nervous excitement as he followed your direction and looked up at
the sky. There was a big cloud up above, shaped nothing like a natural cloud and Karl frowned at it
for a long time.

“Okay, what am I looking at?”

You huffed, a little offended. “Art. I made cloud art.”

Karl looked back down at your face before taking another look at the cloud, trying to figure out
what it was supposed to be.

“Is it a…Hamster?”

“A hamster?!” You repeated with an insulted gasp. “That’s your stupid face!”

His head snapped back down to meet your gaze, lifting an eyebrow. “First of, don’t insult the face
you spend sitting on all of last night. And second of, how is that my face?”

You didn’t answer the first part, putting a finger under Karl's chin to push his head back up.
You pointed up at the bottom part. “That’s your neck.”

You went on to the little spikes at the sides. “That’s your beard.”

Further up to the two round parts. “Those are your glasses.”

And at the top. “And that’s your hat!”

Karl exhaled dramatically. “Don’t get me wrong, I think we know each other long enough to be
honest, right?”

He didn’t wait for you to answer, plastering on a shit-eating grin as he made eye contact with you.
“That looks closer to fucking Moreau than anything like my handsome face.”

Your left eyebrow twitched in annoyance as you looked back up at your creation and slicing the
part that represented his neck in two. “That’s better, more accurate to what you’ll look like in about
10 seconds if you don’t apologize.”

Karl barked out a laugh at your non-vocal threat. “Alright, my little Picasso wanna-be.”

He fluttered his eyelashes at you obnoxiously fast, pouting. “I’m very sorry.”

You put your hand in the middle of his face, pushing him away with a little giggle. “You’re a
fucking asshole, as if you could do any better.”

Taking that as a challenge, a metal plate flew straight into Karl's hand. You were about to ask what
he was doing when he smashed the plate against his face, creating an indent with his powers that
looked exactly like his face.

You gasped in pure horror at the display, hands covering your mouth as he then held it out for you
to see.

“Now that’s what I call accurate!”

Then he handed it to you, like he didn’t just smash his face in, turning to walk back inside.

“You can use that as wank material when you’re too horny to wait for me!”

Another 4 months later

Well, this was awkward.

You never thought you’d ever be sitting in castle Dimitrescu, holding tea in your hands together
with Lady Dimitrescu herself and her daughters.

You nearly had a heart attack when the neatly written letter arrived at the factory, asking for you to
come to the castle for a casual meet up. Karl and you of course immediately assumed a trap of
some kind, but one heated phone call later and you were sure something else was behind it. Your
curiosity was peaked and you persuaded Heisenberg into letting you attend. He, of course, was not
allowed to tag along under any circumstances.
So, here you were, sipping tea while suspended in a heavy silence as the four vampire-like beings
in front of you did the same. Fucking weird.

Finally, Lady Dimitrescu spoke up. “Well, I see you’ve truly become Heisenberg's lapdog, hmm?”

You were confused for a few beats, until you followed her gaze to your cuff and in turn his crest on
it. “Oh, I guess so. We’re a good team.”

“I do have to ask.” The giantess said, putting her cup down. “What is it about him that has you
staying with him? And if it’s an inappropriate reason, I don’t want you to voice it.”

You really had to hold back your snickering at that. “Well, I guess I’ll have to stay quiet then.”

The three daughters all huffed with a nasty look on their face, while their mother just nodded in
acknowledgement.

Bela spoke up then. “It could’ve been fun if you came with mother a year ago.”

“Yes!” Daniela said next, clapping happily. “You could’ve become our sister!”

You didn’t even try to hide your disgust at that. “I’m sorry, but I don’t particularly enjoy the taste of
blood and stuff.”

Lady Dimitrescu shrugged. “Neither did I, but we all have to accept such changes.”

You eyed her warily, she never talked this calmy to you before, especially not when you had kind
of insulted her.

“Why am I here? Do you want something?”

Your four hostesses smiled at you, Alcina's being the brightest. “Oh yes, my dear. I would like a
deal.”

You put your cup down slowly, taking a deep breath. “If you’re hoping I’d help you find some
more victims, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”

But the Lady shook her head. “No need, believe me, I have my sources for all that. No, I want to
have a mutual agreement of no hostility against each other.”

Your mouth dropped open in a gasp. “Excuse me, what the fuck?”

Lady Dimitrescu's face turned into a sneer. “Mind your language in my castle, please.”

Your confusion didn’t come from the statement itself, just about the part about each other.

“Look, let’s be honest here. You could string me up and bleed me out like a pig in mere seconds,
what exactly do you think I’d do to you that comes close to that!?”

She was clearly amused but hid it behind her seriousness. “It is not me that I am worried about.”

Your frown only deepened. “Then who are you afraid I’d hurt?”
A strange look, one that you never thought you’d see on her face, overcame Alcina. It looked close
to fear as she looked at her three daughters.

“The first thing I am is a mother. Your powers are getting stronger and you now have the ability to
create clouds everywhere you go, which includes our home.”

She made eye contact with you and you already began to understand what she was getting at.

“I’m sure Heisenberg has told you about my daughter's condition. If the temperature drops below
10°C, my daughters will…die.”

Lady Dimitrescu went hauntingly silent, so you finished her explanation for her.

“You’re scared that I’ll let it snow around your daughters if you upset me enough.”

“Yes.” She sighed heavily and if you didn’t know any better, she looked close to tears. “If you act
as similar to my brother as I suspect you are, then my fear shouldn’t be unjustified.”

You had to agree that Karl probably wouldn’t hesitate to try and kill any of them if he really wanted
to, Lady Dimitrescu just needed to press his buttons too much. But all he could do was smash in the
windows, which the three should be able to escape from fast enough. But you weren’t like that, at
least you believed so.

“Lady Dimitrescu, if I may.” You said, exhaling slowly as you looked over her daughters. “While
you have insulted me, tried to hurt me, angered me beyond belief, the one thing I’ve never thought
about was going after your daughters.”

“That’s a relief to hear.” The Lady admitted. “So, am I to understand we’ve come to an agreement?
I won’t hurt you, and you won’t hurt my daughters.”

“Yeah. But we’re only talking about physical stuff, right? Because, let’s be honest, neither of us can
stop screaming at the other when we’re in a disagreement.” You pointed out.

Lady Dimitrescu laughed, the most openly you’ve ever seen her. “Well, it seems to me like we are
capable of talking civilised right now.”

Another five months later

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this!” Karl complained loudly, as if to make sure the whole
town could hear your supposed abuse.

“It’s your own fault! You just had to rip Angie's dress the other day, didn’t you!?” You snarled right
back at him. “Donna hasn’t brought Angie with her to the meeting yesterday and she looked heart
broken.”

“She’s wearing a black veil.” He pointed out to you. “How exactly could you tell that?!”

You stopped and turned slowly with a glare to fix him with. “That doll is the last present she got
from her father, she was probably too anxious to bring her with her anymore, afraid you’d next rip
an arm out.”
The family card would always make Karl get a sense of reality again, making him realize what he’d
actually done and why you were so upset at him. And it worked again this time.

He held the white lace fabric closer to his chest, guilt slowly shining through his façade. “O-Okay,
maybe I did go too far this time.”

Even though you were mad, you got closer to him to soothe him with a soft kiss. “I’m sure Donna
is going to be able to fix the dress with the fabric the Duke found.”

The rest of the way over to the Beneviento estate was quiet. It took you a long while to convince
Karl to apologize for his actions and usually you wouldn’t force him like that, remembering his
outburst when you made him apologize to Moreau before. But you couldn’t let him go this time,
couldn’t forget the soft sob only you seemed to have heard from Donna as the fabric ripped.

At the door, you knocked and took a step back. Once again, Angie opened the door, only to release
a shrill scream when she saw Heisenberg and shutting it again.

“Donna! We’re here to apologize!” You yelled through the wood, knocking again.

It took a while, but the door slowly creaked open again, this time it was Donna though.

“I-I don’t want you here.”

You nodded, taking another step back to give her more space. “We’re leaving right away, I
promise.”

Karl slowly approached, grimacing uncomfortably as Donna flinched back. He didn’t let it deter
him though, holding out the fabric.

“I’m sorry, Donna. I, eh, hope you can fix the dress with this.”

Donna opened the door all the way, revealing all her dolls floating behind her, holding various
sharp objects. They were waiting for any sign of her to attack the two of you, and while they
couldn’t kill you, you weren’t fond of meeting their weapons.

You weren’t sure if she meant this as a warning or if she just wanted to show she was a little less
cautious, reviling her defences to you, but either way, she took the fabric and looked it over. What
she did next was definitely a warning though.

Her hand reached up and moved her vail to the side, revealing the left side of her face. And she was
angry.

“You’re lucky you have her.” She quickly glanced at you with her beautiful dark eyes, before
returning her fiery gaze to Karl. “I was planning to smuggle some of my flowers into your factory.
You know what happened last time.”

Karl froze and stepped back, nodding in understanding at the very real threat. Sometimes he forgot
just what Donna could be capable of doing when pushed enough.

Donna set her veil back into place, giving you a little head bow before closing the door. You
weren’t quite sure if that meant she accepted the apology or not but weren’t going to knock on her
door again to ask.
Karl was quiet, turning and leaving at a fast pace. You had to ran to catch up to him, adjusting to
his speed once you made it.

“I should’ve never came here.” He growled lowly. “Why did I listen to you, this was bullshit,
making me apologize like a damn child.”

You harshly grabbed his wrist and stopped walking, straightening your legs and leaning back in an
attempt to stop him, which didn’t quite work as he stubbornly continued his walk. You too, were
stubborn, and that meant you left two lines behind your wake from where your feet were stemming
against the ground. After about 15 meters of this, Karl finally stopped with an annoyed sigh.

“Could you please let me go?!”

You did but grabbed his face with the speed of a snake to keep him there with you. Why were you
acting like this? Because you knew him well enough to know this type of anger of his was just
hiding his fear. He was scared of something.

“Karl, be honest with me.” You pleaded softly, almost a whisper. “What did Donna mean?”

He was hesitating, which you expected, but you caressed his cheek patiently until he’d muster up
the courage to tell you.

“I eh…” He started, swallowing dryly. “I once underestimated how strong her hallucinations
were…”

Your brows knitted together. “What did you see?”

It took him a moment before he could answer you. “My mother.”

With that, he meant his dead mother, as he had told you that’s all he could remember her face as.
You kissed his cheek before pulling him into a loose hug, feeling him melt against you.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want this to make you think about it.”

Karl nodded knowingly, sighing deeply, deflecting. “It’s alright, if you hadn’t made me apologize,
Beneviento would’ve made sure our home was a living nightmare.”

You stayed like this for about 10 minutes before continuing your way back to the factory, both of
you acting like nothing had happened.

Another one year later

“A little more voltage.” Karl was concentrating hard on what was happening.

You were focusing your lightning on his newest creations reactor, channelling the amount of
voltage you used for it until the light began glowing in a bright red.

“Okay, okay! I think that’s enough!” Karl told you, holding his hand up in a stopping motion.

You let up, watching out closely for the chainsaw blades and covering your ears at the loud roaring
of its engine.
Karl forced it to stay still as he checked it over, grinning with pride as everything seemed to work
flawlessly. The cigar in his mouth bobbed as he moved it around absentmindedly.

You leaned against the wall behind you, crossing your arms over your chest. “What’s it called
again?”

“Sturm.” He answered, stemming his arms against his hips. “Damn, he’s a beast!”

“I just realized I never asked you why you named them all so weird.” You said, meeting his
questioning gaze.

“Y/N, are you telling me after all this time you haven’t figured out I was giving them German
names?”

You just shrugged. “It’s not like I knew you could still speak German.”

“Ich kann einiges, Liebling. (I can do many things, darling.)” He smirked at you, not telling you
whatever he just said, instead going on about the names.

“Soldat means soldier, Sturm here is storm, it’s not that hard to figure out really.”

“And what about the Haulers?” You asked curiously.

That made him pause and cringe a little. “Yeah, hauler in German means Schlepper, and that just
sounded kinda weird, I don’t know. Sticked with English on that one.”

“Nice to know where you draw the line.” You chuckled, looking over Sturm. “So, you want to test
him out somewhere?”

“Sure, need to make sure he’s up for the job after all.” He grinned, dropping the cigar to the floor
and stomping it out.

As he used his powers to immobilize Sturm, you went around the table to take off the straps from
his arms, legs and torso. You two walked off towards the elevator, Sturm floating behind you, as
you couldn’t risk his chainsaw blades damaging anything. Once at the top, Karl made the mistake
of letting Sturm free at the entryway. To be fair, he couldn’t expect Sturm to lose his shit
immediately.

You were already at the door as the loud roar of the engine from behind startled you. You turned
just in time to see Sturm charging full speed at you and you froze in fear, like a deer in headlights,
so Karl had to use your cuff to drag you out of the way in the last second. Sturm hit the doors with
his full force, breaking the huge metal pieces away and out of their hinges.

It didn’t get better once he made it outside, but Karl wouldn’t worry about that just now. He ran to
your side, checking you over in a slight panic.

“Are you okay!? Did that brainless motherfucker hurt you!?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” You stammered, still in shock. “Thanks.”

Some loud crashes from outside finally grabbed your attention and Karl and you stormed outside to
see what Sturm was doing. He was running headfirst into everything around him, the fence, the
warehouse walls and more.
“How fucking stupid is that thing?!” Karl snarled in disbelieve.

“That’s definitely a new low.” You had to agree. “But he’s strong at least. Maybe we could still use
him?”

Karl huffed, turning his attention back to you for now. “And do what?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe he could guard the lower floors for now? He’s definitely
aggressive enough to be a guard dog.”

Another loud crash, but it was followed by the sounds of flesh being ripped apart. Both of your
heads snapped back to your creation that now laid in a puddle of blood on the ground.

“Did…Did that idiot just cut his own arms off?!”

 Three Years (Part 2)
Chapter Notes

And the emotional whiplashing continues!

Three months later

It wasn’t the first time you had witnessed Karl having a night terror/nightmare, but it being this
intense was new.

It wasn’t really surprising, the man's head had been messed with since the age of six years old, and
you mean really messed with. But tonight was different.

Usually, when you woke up because of Karls nightmares, it was because he was whimpering in his
sleep, or blindly grabbing for you for comfort. Tonight, however, you didn’t wake up because of
these small signs.

You woke up, because the pillow you shared with Karl was wet. The fabric stuck to your skin and
became uncomfortable, which made you open your eyes to see what was going on. Your heart
dropped at the sight that greeted you.

Heisenberg was silently convulsing next to you, mouth open in a soundless scream, face contorted
in pain. Sweat streamed like rivers down his skin, his hair sticking to his forehead and thick tears
rolling down his cheeks. It looked so extreme you almost couldn’t believe he was asleep at all.

Your protective senses kicked in instantly, sitting up and grabbing his face. “Karl! Wake the fuck
up!”

You shook his whole body, your hand laying over his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat underneath
his skin. But he wasn’t waking up.

Panic settled itself deep into your chest and you began to cry yourself, scared of whatever was
going on and frustrated with how helpless you felt. In a desperate attempt to wake him, you made
your cloud float over his head, making it rain heavily, not giving a damn about the fact that you
were drenching the whole bed and yourself in water.

You weren’t sure if it was the cool water, or if you overdid it a little and almost drowned him, but
either way, you got your desired outcome.

Karl's eyes were red from his tears as they snapped open, his mouth finally releasing a terrifyingly
loud scream before he shot up. You barely had enough time to move out of the way so your heads
wouldn’t smash together and moved your cloud away, the rain stopping.

Since you had moved a little behind him, you were out of his view for the moment.
His head turned to the other side of you in a panic, as if he was searching for something. Or
someone.

“Mama! Wo bist du?!” (Mother, where are you?!)

Your heart clenched painfully, recognizing the language as German and it didn’t take a genius to
figure out he was calling out to his mother. Carefully, you laid your hand on his shoulder, making
him snap his head towards you.

His face turned into a panicked frown. “W-Wo bin ich?” (Where am I?)

Slowly, you lifted your hand to lay against his cheek. His skin was hot enough for you to fear he
had a fever. “Karl my love, I’m so sorry but I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Something about your voice must’ve made him recognize what was going on, as he mirrored you
and put a shaking hand on your cheek.

“Y/N?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper, as if not believing it was really you.

You nodded, pulling him in for a tight hug, sobbing against the skin of his neck. He remained
frozen and stunned for a few seconds before his arms went around your body, pressing you tightly
against him with a tired exhale.

For the first time since you’ve known him, he was crying right in front of you, not even trying to
hide the painful and frightened sobs that left his throat. His whole body was trembling and you
rubbed his back to comfort him, your other hand going up into his drenched hair to gently scratch
his scalp.

You never asked him what he saw that night in the depts of his mind, never even mentioned it
again, for the sake of Karls comfort. By what little you saw of it, it wasn’t hard to figure out the
broad picture anyway.

Another two months later

“Karl, I know you’re just trying to piss me off, could you stop moving?” Your voice had a sharp
desperation to it.

The Lord laughed loudly, his need for being a nuisance satisfied as he finally held still for you.
“You’re no fun.”

You rolled your eyes, taking a wet strain of his hair in between your fingers and putting the scissors
to the tips, beginning to cut it. “And you’re lucky I like you being around, otherwise those scissors
would stab you right now.”

“Now don’t cut too much off, you still need to grab it when we’re busy.” He smirked, watching you
with interest through the mirror he was looking at.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” You mumbled, deeply concentrated on the task at hand.

You’ve always wondered who was cutting Karls hair before, because it always looked kind of
jagged and uneven, not that he cared. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise to you when you
walked in on him twisting in weird ways to try and figure out how he should cut it this time.
It made sense that he did it himself, just winging it, but you were with him for almost three years
now and it hurt that he never once asked you to do it, even if you wouldn’t admit it.

Heisenberg had shrugged when you asked him about it, saying he didn’t want to bother you with it
when he could just do it himself. Again, it made sense, but you asked him to let you do it
nonetheless, smiling happily when he handed you the scissors.

The tips you cut off fell to the floor, going almost invisible against the already grey metal ground.
There was something sweetly domestic about it all, the quietness only interrupted by the sound of
the blades slicing through his hair as you worked your way around his head.

At the front, you did your best to make it look even on both sides, stepping around and to his front
so you could take a closer look at the lengths between your hands. You weren’t paying attention to
his actual face, because if you would have, you would be able to see the large grin that spread over
his face that meant he was up to something.

You froze a little when you felt his hands touching the back of your thighs, slowly wandering up to
your butt to grab it with a tight squeeze.

It was a little game you two liked to play; Him trying to distract you from whatever you were doing
and you acting like nothing was going on.

He did a little massage on your backside before pulling you down and towards him in a short tug,
making you staddle his lap.

“Karl! I’m holding fucking scissors!” You reprimanded him, wanting to wipe the smug smile from
his face.

“Well…” He purred, his hands leaving your butt to get to the front of your pants, opening them.
“You better make sure to hold them still then. You can do that, right pet?”

You sighed, anticipation tingles scattering over your skin as you nodded. “Yes, of course.”

Karl didn’t wait for a second longer, his fingers pushing into your pants and underwear and straight
to your clit, rubbing the bud in steady circles.

You bit back a moan, your face flushing up as you continued on with cutting his hair. There wasn’t
much left to do, thank God, but you would have to really focus to not lose your mind over his hand
down your pants.

From this angle, Karl was able to watch your face closely as he continued to inflict one wave of
pleasure after the other, biting his bottom lip every time you couldn’t hold back the sounds of your
satisfaction.

Your fingers were trembling slightly as you finally cut off the last piece, letting the scissors drop
from your hand and putting your arms around his neck. You rolled your hips against his hand,
happily moaning into his ear and enjoying his answering growl.

Karl leaned down a little to bite your neck, sucking the skin into his mouth until it bruised. “You
enjoying yourself?”
You smirked, hidden from his view. “Isn’t my wet cunt enough to tell you? I’m surprised you’re
still holding back.”

As if taking that as a challenge, Karl shot up from his seat, his hand removed from your clit so he
could hold you in his arms. You expected him to carry you out of the bathroom and to bed, but it
seemed like he couldn’t be bothered right now. Instead, he put you down to your feet, turning you
around and bending you over the sink.

With a rough yank, your pants and underwear pooled at your feet, Karl doing the same with his
own before leaning over your back.

Though you wanted nothing more, you had to intervene. “K-Karl, we don’t have a condom with
us.”

Karl spit into his hand, beginning to rub it against the skin of your inner thighs with a low rumbling
groan. “I know, but I’m not in the mood to go grab one, leaving you alone and dripping.”

He guided his cock in between your folds and thighs, encouraging you to squeeze your legs
together. You leaned your hips back against his as he started to thrust, his length rubbing along your
slick folds and stimulating your clit.

Heisenberg was restless as he fucked your thighs, his hands coming around to grab your breast
through your shirt. It reminded you of the very first sexual act the two of you shared and you
keened at the memory.

Both of you came at the same time, singing the song of your pleasure for all the Soldats to hear and
not giving a single fuck about it.

His cum on your legs left you sticky, but you didn’t mind the tangible mark he left on you as you
relaxed against the sink, trying to catch your breath. Karl pulled away and leaned down to kiss your
right buttcheek, before grabbing your face to kiss your lips.

Another month later

Moreau was moving.

He’d decided that the windmills weren’t a suitable home anymore, as the old wood started to get
into a dangerous state of decay. At first, you had suggested he look for a house on the outskirts of
the village, but he refused, saying he was afraid the villagers might see him.

After a little searching around, you found a little space in the mines that he decided to make into his
new home. So now, you were helping him carry his stuff from the windmill to his new living space.
You had tried to get Karl to help as well, but as always, he refused the notion entirely. Even after all
this time, he couldn’t understand what made you be friends with the most disgusting Lord.

“Thank-Thank you, Y/N” Moreau smiled, slightly out of breath, as you put the last box down.

Moreau didn’t own many personal items, but the things he did own were on the heavier side of
things. Like his TV or his huge DVD collection, not to mention his big chest where he stored
various items in, not having a real system to it.
“Not a problem, Moreau.” You sighed, stemming your hands against your lower back as you
stretched your spine, smiling at the satisfying crackles. “It’s not a hardship.”

The two of you sat down on the dirty floor, neither of you caring at this point if you got stains on
your clothes.

Moreau regarded you for a few seconds, hesitating. “N-Not only for helping me find a new home
and move. I mean for everything.”

You tilted your head in interest, not understanding. “What do you mean?”

The fish Lord adverted his gaze in shame. “For being my friend. I-I still sometimes think you’re
playing a game with me like everyone else is, pretending to like me for the sake of a joke.”

“Moreau, I am your friend.” You tried to reassure him, but it didn’t work, as he just shook his head.
“You want to know something?”

Moreau looked up curiously, nodding. A bright smile came to your lips.

“When Mother Miranda took me in and I had to choose which Lord I should go with, I wanted to
choose you.”

“What?” Moreau gasped, looking almost shy.

You chuckled quietly. “I don’t think I ever told you, did I? Out of all the four Lords, you were the
only one that struck me to have a kind heart. I was rather sad when I saw you left.”

Moreau looked at you, disbelieve written all over his face. “You mean that? You would’ve come
home with me?”

“Yes, I would have.” You assured him and this time he smiled back at you.

“I think I believe you.”

And even though you had to overcome your disgust, you went in for a friendly hug, which in turn
had Moreau bursting into happy tears.

November 2019

Mother Miranda had called in another meeting. An important meeting, might I add. And what was
the Lord of Metal busy doing? Arguing with a doll.

“Ahahahaha!” Angie was shrieking. “I know it’s small! I don’t know how Y/N can stay with you!”

You had no idea how the topic of Karls dick-size came up, but it happened and now you had to deal
with it somehow.

Karl looked about ready to explode. “You couldn’t handle my size!”

“I’m a doll, you idiot! Even small things can hurt me!” Angie laughed right back.
Karl turned to look at you, standing behind his pew he sat at. “You hearing this!? Back me the fuck
up!”

You looked back at him, not interested in getting involved, beginning to play with your cloud
crown. “Karl, you’re arguing about your dick-size with a doll.”

Moreau looked really uncomfortable in his chair, probably wishing he was anywhere else but here,
but not daring to leave because Miranda wouldn’t want that. Donna looked as passive as ever, just
having a slight tilt of her head indicating that she was paying attention to what Angie was doing.

“Y/N, just back me up!” Karl demanded, his voice starting to ring in your ears.

You gave a defeated sigh. “Yes, you’re packing massive heat.”

“Ha!” Heisenberg turned back to Angie. “You heard her! Massive heat!”

“That isn’t really an unbiased opinion though, is it?” Angie pointed out, giggling to herself because
she managed to agitate Karl to this extend.

Heisenberg jumped up from his seat, his hands instantly going to the fly of his pants. “Oh, okay!
I’ll just prove it then! Heads up people, this is PG18!”

Moreau screamed in disbelieve and covered his eyes while Angie immediately turned away in
disgust as you yelled at him to stop. Right then, ever the perfect timing, Lady Dimitrescu walked
in.

“What in heavens name have I just walked in on?!”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” You answered for everybody, leaning over the pew and grabbing Karl by
his pants, yanking him back to sit down.

You leaned down to his ear, growling for only him to hear. “Your friend down there, is mine. It’s
only for me to see, you got that?”

It was both true and a way to bring Karl to back down, giving you a little smirk before closing his
fly again. “As you wish, pet.”

Lady Dimitrescu shook her head in disgust. “I can’t believe Mother Miranda would let a child like
you attend such meetings.”

“Guess I’m her favourite.” Karl knew exactly how to push her buttons.

Alcina took in a rush of air, preparing to explode as Mother Miranda cut in, walking into the room.

“Silence! I do not have the patience today!”

Everyone went quiet and you slowly stepped around the pew to sit down next to Karl, afraid that
any fast movement could agitate Miranda.

Mother Miranda sat down in her chair with a loud sigh, her hands reaching up to remove her mask.
It wasn’t the first time you saw her actual face, but it always startled you nonetheless. Miranda was
beautiful, you hated to admit that, and she looked nothing like the psycho scientist she was. If you
didn’t know her and just saw her walking on the streets, you would never have guessed she was
able to inflict so much pain upon the world.

“My dear children, I have big news to tell.” Her anger was shortly forgotten as a creepily excited
smile crossed her face. “My surveillance team has informed me that some big changes are coming
to the Winters house.”

You wanted to roll your eyes, hating when she prolonged like this, as if she was one of those
annoying quizmasters on TV.

“Mia Winters is pregnant.”

The room was already silent before, but now it took on an eeriness to it that put you all on edge.

“Those are big news.” Lady Dimitrescu confirmed hesitantly, breaking the silence.

Karl leaned forward a little. “So what exactly? A woman gets pregnant, that’s nothing too special.”

You cringed at his words, hoping Miranda wouldn’t get furious about it. After all, she was a Mother
and made it her life mission to revive her dead daughter, of course being pregnant was special to
her.

It did seem like Miranda was about to lash out, but in the end, she just seemed to brush it off. “That
may be true, in some sense. But a child born from parents that have been touched by the mold does
seem rather interesting.”

Karl tensed up, her indication that she wanted to take that child hurting him, and you wanted to
reach out and comfort him but couldn’t. Not while everyone was watching.

“What are you planning, Mother?” Moreau asked, drawing her attention away from Karl. “Is the
baby special?”

Mother Miranda considered her answer for a moment. “Well, I can’t be 100% sure until the child is
born and my team has observed it for a few months.”

You hoped that the child would be nothing more than that. Karl and you had improved the factory
immensely over these few shared years, your army steadily growing. But you weren’t quite sure if
you could take her down already. If that Winters kid proved to be a step closer to Miranda's
ultimate goal, it would put a time limit on Karl and you. You had to further improve your rebellion
and do it fast.
 Planning
Chapter Notes

A bit of a shorter chapter today, but things are starting to pick up!

December 2020

It was the most productive year in the history of the Heisenberg factory.

It was also the year the Duke's business was the highest, much to the enjoyment of said merchant of
course. He had been steadily supplying you with bodies to turn into Soldats, at such a high rate that
you have created a cloud to be kept in its own room, that would snow 24/7 which created a working
freezer that didn’t get affected by the heat of the factory.

At one point, you had a mental crisis at the realization that you didn’t even care who these people
were anymore, sometimes not even recognizing them as humans. Maybe it was a coping
mechanism because you just refused to believe you’ve become so deeply twisted that your common
sense was lost along the way.

Karl wasn’t much of any help on that part, sadly. He had lost most of his humanity some time ago,
even if you had brought some of it back once you two got closer. It’s been four years since you
came to the village, have been experimented on by Mother Miranda and have chosen to live with
the most dangerous Lord. It wasn’t that long ago in the grand scheme of your life, but it felt like
you’ve spent decades here already.

Mirandas main focus during that year was the Winters baby, who was born on August second. A
little girl by the name of Rosemary Winters.

Miranda has been swooning over pictures of the baby every day it seemed, getting more and more
excited at the prospect of Rose being the last piece she needed for resurrecting Eva.

Karl and you refused to address the elephant in the room. Mother Miranda didn’t need much more
to be sure she could use Rose, was probably already planning on it, and that drove not only the
metaphorical knife stuck in Karl's chest deeper, but the knife turned into a damn spear.

Rose was even younger than he had been when he was kidnapped and he was furious that she was
planning on using her. It had gotten more and more difficult to hide his rage from her, to the point
of which you would now discreetly hide a little cloud in the inside of his trench coat, that would
give him a little zap whenever he was about to blow his cover during a meeting.

The only positive prospect of it all could’ve been the fact that Miranda would have to go all the
way to America to get her, which would’ve bought you a little more time, but even that was in vain.
Using her connections, Miranda managed to move the Winters to Romania, practically to her
doorstep. All her planning and calculations on it made you sick.
But Mother Miranda was only getting started, which you had to learn the hard way during a
meeting.

Once again, Miranda was rambling on and on about how perfect little rose was, how she couldn’t
wait to see her in the flesh and blood and so on, when she finally revealed the next step of her plan.
Her fascination with the baby had let to even make the other Lords façade slip a little, Lady
Dimitrescu rolling her eyes whenever Miranda didn’t look at her for example.

“My dear children.” She addressed you all and it sounded more and more fake the more she said it.
“I think it is time for me to get actively involved with the research about Rose.”

“Meaning?” Karl didn’t have any patience left, even if it meant he couldn’t hide his annoyance.

Miranda didn’t even care, too focused on her plan. “On January first, I shall make a visit to the
Winter residence. I will sneak in and incapacitate the parents for a while, taking in Mia's place in
the household.”

“Mother Miranda, why would you want to play pretend like that?” Alcina asked carefully, but just
as annoyed at this point, even if she hid it better than Heisenberg.

“My Eva needs a perfect vessel. If it is Rose, then I’ll have to make sure. So, I will spend a few
months disguised as Mia Winters, acting as Ethan's wife and mother to Rose. Once I’m sure what
the baby is capable of, I will bring her back to the village.” She explained, as if she wasn’t talking
about anything that fucked up.

This time, you zapped Karl before he even showed any signs of his anger, knowing full well it was
coming. He twitched in his seat and huffed quietly, glancing at you through the side his sunglasses,
a little sneer pulling at his lips.

You ignored him, leaning forwards to ask a question. “Mother Miranda, does that mean you will
kill Mia Winters to take her place?”

The smile she gave you ran a chill down your spine. “No, I believe that if Rosa shows to be unfit
after all, I could still use the parents for some tests.”

“So, you’re kidnapping her?” Angie asked next, Donna worrying her fingernails quietly, a little
nervous tick she had.

“Exactly,” Miranda answered. “And one of you will have the privilege of coming with me to the
Winters home and is then in charge of taking Mia back to the village and into my lab. That person
will also be responsible for making sure she is kept healthy and fed.”

You cringed, coughing as an excuse to cover your mouth so Mother Miranda couldn’t see. As you
had expected, a little fight over the position ensued that neither Karl nor you had any interest in
participating in. You two had better things to do than act as a babysitter.

“Mother Miranda, I ask that you entrust me with this!” Lady Dimitrescu jumped in, smiling with
pride. “You know females are always in good care with me.”

“As if.” Karl chuckled so only you could hear.

“M-Mommy, please let me.” Moreau chimed in weakly but willing to try his luck. “I’ll make sure
she’s not getting sick.”

“No, no, no! She’ll puke as soon as she smells you, ugly!” Angie laughed right at his face and you
send a little glare her way, which you knew did almost nothing to intimidate her, but you weren’t
going to just sit and let her insult your friend.

“Enough! I have already decided who I will entrust with this.” Mother Miranda interrupted, for
once not dragging this out and instantly pointing at you. “Y/N, you will accompany me.”

“Mother Miranda-“ Karl immediately started, his voice already sliced with venom when you
zapped him again, stronger this time, making him full on flinch as he released an angry grunt,
catching himself. “…What a wonderful idea.”

“I hope you can hand me her leash for a day, Heisenberg. I’m sure you’re more than capable of
working on your own again.” Miranda smirked, even she has picked up on the whole lapdog role
you’ve created.

You didn’t give Karl another chance to respond. “Thank you, Mother Miranda. I won’t disappoint
you.”

You hated having to thank her for what she was forcing you to do, but you pushed it away from
your mind, both to stay calm and because of the dread that formed in your stomach.

“Oh, I’m sure you won’t.” She responded with one of her cold smiles, going on about the details of
her plan while both Karl and you zoned out.

Miranda ended the meeting shortly after, dismissing everyone except for you. She gracefully waved
you towards her and you followed her will without hesitation, even if your heart is beating up to
your throat.

Mother Miranda laid her hands to your shoulders, rubbing over them in an overly fake loving
manner. “I will contact you once I am ready to move on with my plan.”

You nodded, keeping your face neutral. “Is there anything I should be prepared for?”

“I don’t think so.” She mused, shrugging. “All you need is all your strength and your clouds.”

To your dismay, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “I’m glad that you’ve
come to me four years ago.”

You wanted to punch her for that sentence, scream at her face about how you were dragged into
this mess by her! That she had forced you into a family you didn’t want to have, how she infected
you with a parasite and is now dictating your life.

A loud clank interrupted the creepy moment, Karl having slammed his hammer down against the
floor, acting like he did so to lean casually against its handle.

“Oh, terribly sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.” He lied with a smile that could’ve easily been
considered a threatening grin.

You wanted to zap him again, afraid he’d push Miranda into giving him a punishment, but the
priestess just shook her head and let you go.
“Be ready for when I call you, Y/N.” She reminded you, turning into a flock of crows that flew up
and out of the church through the ceilings opening.

You felt Karl staring holes into your back and slowly turned around to face him fully, anger
bubbling up.

“Are you out of your fucking mind!?”

Karl rolled his eyes at you, straightening up and swinging his hammer over his shoulder. “Relax,
sweetheart, she’s all high on endorphins over little Rose.”

You stomped towards him, your index finger poking at his chest. “You always tell me I need to hide
my anger from her, and yet here you are, pushing her buttons!”

Karl grabbed your wrist and held it up and away from his body, stopping the poking. “Watch your
tone with me, Y/N.”

“Or what?” You challenged, ripping your wrist out of his grasp. “You’re gonna throw me to some
Lycans to nibble on me?”

“Could you stop acting like a bitch for once!” He groaned, the insult slipping from his tongue
without meaning to.

“I’m the bitch?” You scoffed at him, walking off towards the exit. “You’re the one playing with fire
and whining to me later because you got burned.”

He used his power to give one sharp tug to your cuff, not stopping you but asking you to do so on
your own. You took a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming down and doing as he asked. You
didn’t turn to face him, absentmindedly letting the cloud in his coat disappear as a little
afterthought.

Karl stepped up to your back, leaning down towards your ear. “Are we done with this pity fight
we’re having?”

“Are you done trying to get yourself killed and in turn leaving me behind?” You asked in return, the
words stinging as much as the unshed tears in your eyes.

Karl sighed, knowing exactly how much the thought hurt you. “Y/N, we both know she won’t just
kill me off. She still needs me to do her shit.”

You turned around so he could see your face and the pain it showed. “Even so, she can still hurt
you, Karl.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the ceiling, getting uncomfortable. “I’m sorry,
alright? Just…couldn’t hold back anymore when she put her disgusting lips to your forehead.”

You sighed, the energy starting to leave you in defeat. “Karl, you couldn’t hold back before that
too, I zapped you like ten times today.”

“Ever thought I was doing that on purpose because I like it?” He suggested teasingly, hoping to
defuse the situation with humour.
A little twitch at the corners of your lips tugged them up, not a full-on smile but something at least.
“You’re an idiot.”

“Your idiot.” He pointed out, kissing you softly.

When you parted, you tugged at his sleeve. “Come on, let’s go home.”

He followed you outside silently, only speaking up once the sun hit your face. “Actually, I need to
go to the den real quick.”

You shuddered, not caring that he saw. The Lycans den was one of your least favourite places in the
village. It was littered with corpses, the floor usually stained brown and a deep red from both old
and fresh blood. Not to mention the smell.

“You can go back to the factory, I don’t mind.” He said, knowing how much you hated this part of
his job. “Just need to check up on Urias.”

“No.” You answered immediately. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

Karl chuckled, pressing a quick kiss to your temple. “You’re acting as if I couldn’t defend myself.”

You didn’t respond to him, instead starting to walk towards the ruins of the stronghold. Your
anxiety was at an all-time high the closer Miranda got to her goal and Karl wasn’t helping by
purposefully putting himself in dangerous situations.

Karls favourite Lycan was the pack leader Urias, for obvious reasons, like both of them wielding a
huge hammer. You remembered the first time you saw him, sleeping at the bottom of the cave when
Karl first openly talked about his feelings towards you. Urias was a beast in every definition there
was and Karl treated him like a puppy, which didn’t help with soothing your fear of him.

You were pretty sure you could incapacitate Urias if you really had to, but you didn’t want to find
out.

The reason why Karl wanted to check on him was because Urias got hurt recently. Even though he
was strong and hard to damage because of his Cadou, it wasn’t impossible for him to get insured.
His weak spots were his legs and two Varcolacs had decided to try and take him down for the
position of Alpha. Both of them were smashed by his hammer, but they had enough time to rip into
his legs before meeting their end.

That was a few days ago and Urias was still healing, though almost done. Karl just wanted to make
sure it stayed that way, because he’d need Urias, who was loyal to him, to lead the Lycans during
his rebellion. When the Alpha takes on a fight with Mother Miranda, the others would follow.

When you entered the cave, the Lycans stepped away, a few of the more daring ones snapping at
your legs to scare you. You had fully embraced your role as Heisenberg's lapdog, sometimes getting
a little too much into it. Without thinking you barked at one of them, who shrunk back and tilted his
head, as if you had insulted him in a language you didn’t even understand.

Karl stopped walking and looked at you with a raised eyebrow. “What the ever-loving fuck was
that?”

You giggled, a little embarrassed and shrugged. “Don’t know, just felt like fun.”
“Ah, my little pet, huh?” He grinned, shaking his head as he continued to walk to Urias space.

The giant Lycan was peacefully sleeping, cuddled up to his hammer. Karl approached his head,
after discarding his hammer by your side, without a second thought while you stayed away, not
trusting this.

Karl poked at his nose. “Hey, big guy! Wake up!”

Urias awoke with a start, snarling in outrage at being woken up, until he recognized Karl in front of
him and relaxed again.

“Just doing a check-up.” He explained, not caring if Urias liked it or not and walking over to his
legs.

Karl crouched down and looked over the partially scared wounds, reaching out to touch the skin
surrounding one. Urias growled his protest, his leg flinching away.

“I know, big guy, I know.” Heisenberg said, reaching forward again and carefully examining the
wounds. He reached inside his coat and took out a bottle of disinfectant, opening it with a plop.

Urias recognized the sound and started to move away, but Karl grabbed one of his legs, pouring the
liquid over his insures nonetheless. You quickly covered your ears as Urias released a loud roar,
both angry and in pain, his huge teeth glistering against what little light was down here.

“Stop being so dramatic,” Karl demanded with a rolling of his eyes, throwing the now empty bottle
somewhere behind himself. “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re the Alpha.”

Urias growled at him and Karl just looked him straight in the eyes, which was enough to quiet him
again. That in itself was terrifying.

He walked back up to Urias's head, petting the giant between his ears, almost apologetically.
“You’re going to be fully healed by tomorrow morning.”

Urias huffed and then yawned, and you could smell the stench of his breath from where you were
standing, wondering how Karl could be this close and not let it affect him. Karl stepped away and
to your side again, grabbing his hammer before addressing you.

“See? No need to be afraid of me getting hurt.”

As if waiting for him to say that, Urias let the head of his hammer drop next to where Heisenberg
was standing and you pulled Karl away with a startled yelp. If you didn’t know any better, you
thought the Lycan was laughing at the display, rolling over to continue sleeping.

Karl's head turned red, either from anger or embarrassment as he turned to address Urias once
more.

“Bad fucking Lycan!”

 Invading The Home
Chapter Notes

TW: Implied suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping.

Quick question: What is your opinion on Mia Winters? Because I for one, don't really like her.
It just seems worrying to me that Ethan didn't realize Miranda had replaced Mia, meaning Mia
was acting like we see Miranda portraying her for a long time beforehand. Just the part when
he says to Rose "Can't keep your mother waiting, she's scary when she's angry" is giving me
bad vibes.

January 2021

The time you dreaded had come. You had said goodbye to Karl, you both trying to comfort the
other, with little success, if any.

But there wasn’t anything to do about it. Mother Miranda was waiting for you to join her and it
wouldn’t help to let her wait. You just had to do this.

The dark priestess was waiting for you at the edge of the forest, partly hidden by the trees shadow
as the moon illuminated only her face. She had insisted to get the job done during the night, the
villagers couldn’t catch wind of what was going on, otherwise they might begin to question her.
About damn time, you thought.

“Y/N, how glad I am that you’re here with me.” Mother Miranda greeted you, instantly turning and
beginning to walk a path through the forest.

You followed her warily. “Are we going on foot?”

The walk would take a few hours at least and you doubted Miranda would waste time like that, but
with all the stuff she already pulled, you couldn’t be sure.

“Of course not!” Miranda laughed hollowly. “Silly child, a car is waiting for us at the main road
that crosses through the forest.”

You chuckled nervously, almost afraid to say anything more. You were never truly alone with her
before and the fact that nothing could stop her from utterly destroying you was terrifying. It’s not
like it was much different with Karl around, but he’d at least try to help you out.

You just had to trust that she wouldn’t do anything to harm you for now. After all, she wanted you
to take Mia back to the village and keep an eye on her, so it would be a stupid move on her part if
she just killed you off.

After about twenty minutes, you heard a car's engine a little distance away, spotting a few lights
that shined through the foliage. A man was leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette as he waited
for the two of you to show up.
The car was the definition of creepy; A white van. It only needed a free candy sign to fulfil the
absurd picture. Definitely, the right vehicle to kidnap someone.

The man threw his still-lit cigarette to the ground, the snow instantly demolishing the ember of it.
He did a little head bow.

“Long time no see, Mother Miranda.”

Miranda nodded. “It has been indeed. Are you ready to go?”

“Sure.” The man shrugged, eyeing you for a moment before walking over to the driver's seat and
taking his seat there. You didn’t know the man, but the casualness of his movements told you this
wasn’t the first time he did something like this.

He pressed a button and the side doors opened for Miranda and you to climb in. Once you both sat,
you realized this drive was going to be torturously awkward. What the hell were you even supposed
to talk about with her?! You had no desire to crawl at her feet, neither to drool over her obsession
with Rose.

Mother Miranda didn’t care, sitting there casually and humming a tune as she stared at the wall of
the van, deep in thought.

You were glad, because you thought that meant she didn’t want to talk anyway, but you were
wrong.

“My son seems to be quite fond of you.”

You choked on your own spit, coughing and gulping for air. Oh no, she wanted to talk about Karl
and you.

Miranda tilted her head, giving you her full attention. “What is it, Y/N? Cats got your tongue?”

“I-I’m sorry, Mother Miranda.” You swallowed thickly. “But I’m afraid I don’t quite understand
what you mean.”

She smiled knowingly. “Oh, but I’m sure you do. You two spend so much time together and it’s
only rare that one finds you without him. That should mean something, no?”

Okay, you had to think about this. It was one thing for everyone to know you two fucked, but so far
you were able to keep the romance out of their minds. It did help that everyone genuinely believed
Karl was incapable of feeling love and being loved in return, so there wasn’t as much suspicion
about it. You two tried your best to act like you just tolerated each other, instead of what was
actually going on.

You both knew that once word got around about how deep your shared feelings went, Mother
Miranda and the others would try and use them against you. You couldn’t let that happen.

Okay, time to start acting. You sighed dramatically, lacing your voice with disgust. “Mother
Miranda, I can assure you what Heisenberg and I do in our spare time differs immensely. I have my
own room in the factory, where I spend time learning about the human body and all its quirks. I
don’t even know what he does in his alone time, much less care to know.”

Miranda looked unconvinced. “If so, how come you’re still staying with him?”
“Convenience I guess?” You answered, feeling sweat build up at the back of your neck. “We are a
good team when it comes to working on his experiments with the Cadou, after all. Would be a
shame to waste that, no?”

“And what about the activities the two of you share, outside of work? Am I to believe there is
nothing more to it?” She asked further and you felt like burning up.

You got this. “Mother Miranda, with all respect, I don’t want to burden you with the knowledge of
what Heisenberg and I do in the bedroom. I can only assure you that it's only a way for both of us
to blow off some steam sometimes. He isn’t really the type for a real relationship, is he?”

Mother Miranda still looked a little unbelieving but did let up with the topic, apparently satisfied
for now. The rest of the car ride was quiet and you stared at the floor for most of it, afraid that if
you looked at her, she would start asking questions again.

The van stopped about 200 meters away from the house, which made you frown. Mother Miranda
got up and pushed open the door, you following closely behind.

“Y/N, we need a big cloud,” Miranda said, not asking but demanding. “It needs to cover the whole
house and the surrounding area.”

You did as she asked, a cloud building out of nowhere that started to stretch and stretch until
everything was covered. Miranda walked into the mist and you were fast to build a little open way
for you to move through, making sure that it would still hide you from whoever could be watching.

Once you reached the house, Miranda paused and looked up at a specific window. You guessed it
was either the master bedroom or Roses room, if she had one already. Miranda started to chant
something in a language you didn’t know and weren’t even sure if it was a real language at all.
Nothing seemed to happen and you wondered what was going on as Miranda just straight-up
walked to the front door.

She opened the doors with a wave of her hand and stepped inside like she owned the place and you
rushed after, not wanting to anger her. She walked up the stairs, the wood creaking under your feet
and you grew anxious the Winters would get alerted of your presence.

That didn’t happen though. Miranda stalked right into the master bedroom and once you joined her,
you realized what whatever she chanted before had done.

Two people were fast asleep in the bed, but they had a strange shine over their skin that told you it
wasn’t just sleeping. Miranda must’ve casted a spell of some kind over the two of them.

While you were studying the married couple in bed, Mother Miranda had stepped to a cradle that
stood to the side, looking down at it with a big smile. You cringed, hoping she didn’t see, as she
reached down, bringing forth a baby and instantly holding it close to her chest.

“Hello, little Rose. Oh, how happy I am to meet you.” Miranda cooed, swaying back and forth.

You wanted to throw up, to cry and scream at the parents to wake up. But you couldn’t do anything.
All you would do is get yourself killed, and you couldn’t do that. You needed to kill Mother
Miranda with Karl.
“Mother Miranda.” You cleared your throat to get her attention. “How exactly will you take Mia's
place now?”

Mia looked nothing like Miranda and Ethan would immediately know the difference, everyone
would. Miranda didn’t let Rose go as she walked over to the bed, focusing deeply on the sleeping
woman.

Before your eyes, Mother Miranda changed her appearance. Her blond hair that was tied back
unfurled over her shoulder and turned brown, her face shaping to the one of Mia. Even her clothes
changed into the ones Mia was wearing right now, her lifting the covers to see what it was she was
wearing.

Miranda saw your obvious confusion, laughing at it. “What? Did no one tell you I was a
shapeshifter?”

“Ehh, no?” You responded, stunned. Why had Karl not told you that?! That wasn’t just a random
detail about her!

“Interesting.” The other woman responded, walking back to the cradle to put Rose back down
before addressing you once more.

“Now, I need you to take Mia and carry her to the car. Once you’re back at the village, put her in
the cell inside my lab that I’ve shown you and then you will put this in her mouth.”

She held out a little yellow stone for you to take. You couldn’t figure out what it was and honestly
didn’t really care, you just took it and placed it inside your pocket. There wasn’t a choice for you
now, you slowly walked around the bed to where Mia was, carefully gathering her in your arms.
She was about your size and you were sure if it wasn’t for the Cadou inside you, you wouldn’t be
able to lift her this effortlessly.

Miranda took her place in the bed next to Ethan without hesitation, getting comfortable as if
nothing was wrong with any of this.

“Now go on, Y/N. Take good care of her.”

You nodded and turned with a heavy heart, apologizing to the family you were helping to destroy
quietly in your head. But you stopped at the threshold of the bedroom, turning again with a
question on your tongue.

“Mother Miranda, why did you choose me to help you tonight?”

Miranda had laid down, but was now straightening up to her elbows to look at you.

“Simple; Your power would hide us. Also, while you might not be too powerful, you are someone I
trust with this. Alcina doesn’t have enough self-control to not try and taste her, Donna would cling
herself to her and Heisenberg isn’t caring enough to go through the effort of feeding her…”

“And Moreau?” You pointed out that she hadn’t named him.

The scoff she gave was enough of a hint for you to know the extent of her distaste of him. “Please,
as if I could trust him with anything.”
You nodded quietly, mumbling a little goodbye before turning and walking down the hallway and
stars again. You looked down at the passed out women in your arms and held back tears, hating
yourself for having to help Miranda do this. But you wouldn’t let yourself cry, not while the man
that drove you here was waiting for you and could see it.

You walked slowly, more because of dread than because of the extra weight, but eventually, you’ve
reached the van again, climbing in with Mia in your arms and putting her down in the seat Miranda
was sitting at just shortly before.

You stepped back outside, waving your hand over the cloud to let it disintegrate before you climbed
back inside the car.

You hid your face against the palms of your hands, refusing to look at the sleeping woman you had
just taken from her home, left a literal monster to stay with her baby and husband. But what could
you do?

Nothing. There was nothing that could’ve stopped Miranda at this point. Your rebellion wasn’t as
strong as it needed to be yet and time was running out.

You were spiralling down on a ride of anxiety, survival instinct and panic that didn’t leave you for
the whole ride back to the village.

The man stopped the car where he had picked you up, walking around to open the door for you
while you took Mia back into your arms. Your face was a mask, no emotions showing anymore as
an all-consuming numbness rushed over you.

You didn’t say anything as you walked away from the man, not that he cared. You heard the door
closing behind you and soon after the car driving off again. You looked straight ahead as you
walked, refusing to look down at Mia as you got closer to her new prison.

Mia wasn’t much different from you back when you first arrived at the village. She too, was now a
prisoner, the fate of her family uncertain and her future dangling on a thin threat that Miranda held
between her fingers.

Karl and you had a long talk the night before, discussing if he should wait for you at the edge of the
forest and coming with you down to her lab, but in the end you refused him. He may have been
good at hiding it, but you knew it hurt him to be back in the room where Miranda had tortured him.
You had no intention of letting that happen.

So, in the dead of night, you crossed the village with Mia in your arms, that started to put a strain
on you. But you didn’t care.

You entered the tunnel to Miranda's lab, walking through the darkness until you’ve reached the
door to it. Slowly, you set Mia down on the ground, propping her up against the wall so you could
open the door with the key Miranda gave you.

The lights turned on when the door creaked open and you stepped inside and towards the cell,
unlocking that too and opening it before going back to get Mia.

You laid her down on the simple cot Miranda had in the cell, brushing some of her hair out of Mia's
face as if that little act would somehow change what you just did. You went out and grabbed a
clean glass, filling it with water and taking the plate of fruits you had prepared with you back into
the cell. You kicked a little box on the ground around until it was in the position you wanted, then
set the items down.

Mia now had water and food, that should suffice for now. You reached into your pocket and took
out the little yellow stone Miranda had given you. You hated to have to put the stone in her mouth,
as if that last act would make the whole situation any worse. It didn’t matter anymore, it was done.

You left the cell, closed the door and locked it, looking back at Mia for the last time tonight before
leaving her behind.

The walk back to the factory felt long and painful and you still refused to cry. It hurt so much to do
all of the things Miranda made you do tonight, not even counting in the fact that it happened to an
innocent family.

You saw a figure standing at the gate to the factory, recognizing it as Heisenberg who was waiting
for you. He heard your footsteps and looked up from whatever he was staring at, tilting his head
when he saw the emotionless expression you wore. Somehow, he sensed what was going on,
pushing off the fence and opening the gate for you.

You walked silently towards the doors, Karl and you having replaced the ones Sturm destroyed
with metal plates that slide open by moving to the side. You entered the darkness your home
provided and didn’t stop walking. You were afraid that once you came to a standstill, everything
would come crashing down and you couldn’t bear it.

So, you walked, stubbornly staring right ahead as you went down random stairs and hallways,
passing Haulers and Soldats that had stopped scaring you long ago. Karl followed you just as
silently, watching whatever you did closely, ready to step in if needed.

To your dismay, you eventually reached a half-broken catwalk and you walked to its end at which
point you had to stop. You were holding your breath as you stared down at the depts of the factory.

Karl must’ve realized the kind of thoughts that rushed through your head that moment.

“Trust me, you don’t want to jump.”

You swallowed heavily, the dam starting to crack as you turned your head towards him. “Why not?
I’m a fucking monster.”

“You’re not, Y/N.” He said calmly, stepping closer.

“Sure, it’s not horrible at all that I just carried an unconscious woman out of her home and put her
in a cell. It’s not horrible that I left a baby in the company of the evillest witch there is. I didn’t just
destroy a damn family that had already suffered through enough.” You sobbed, the dam breaking as
your knees gave out and you broke down.

Karl was fast to catch you and pulled you away from the edge, gathering you in his arms and
hugging you with his whole body. Everything left you; The tears, the frustrated screams, the painful
sobs and the many curses you had for Mother Miranda.

Karl knew what you were going through. Miranda finally broke you, had forced you to do
something so vile that you started to hate yourself, blaming it all on you. He had reached that point
long ago but unlike you, he had to gather the broken pieces she had left up on his own. You had him
and he made sure you knew that.

He kissed the top of your hair before laying his cheek against it. “Listen, you had no choice. We all
do things we don’t want to survive, and fucking believe me when I tell you I know how you feel.”

You listened to him silently, forcing yourself to focus on his voice instead of the hatred inside you.

“But don’t forget what we’re fighting for.” He reminded you, loosening his hold on you to make
you look at his face. “Use that pain, that rage, inside you. Make it your ammunition and when the
time comes, you’ll destroy Miranda with it, and she’ll regret ever having created you.”

You sobbed brokenly, hiding your face against his neck. “I-I can’t Karl, it’s too much.”

Once more, he made you look at him, fixing you with a strict look. “Yes, you fucking can. Because
we’re getting out of here and start a new life somewhere far away. A life that we want, where we
aren’t controlled by Miranda anymore. We’ll be in a world that this bitch doesn’t share with us.”

Hiccupped sobs left your throat that started to burn from the force of it. Karl kissed you gently,
trying to communicate what he couldn’t say with words with his actions. The taste of your salty
tears on your lips angered him, not because of you, but because Miranda had done this to you.

The flames of your shared hatred for her seemed to mingle with the breath you shared during the
kiss and a sense of ease washed over you, not quite enough to entirely relax you, but enough for
you to calm down again.

You sniffed and wiped the snot under your nose away with your sleeve, glancing shyly at Karl as he
saw that. He didn’t care, placing a few small kisses all over your face.

“Can we go to bed? I’m so, so tired.” You admitted, your head pounding.

Karl agreed, taking you back in his arms and lifting you up to carry you. The exhaustion of the day
caught up to you before he reached the bed, and you fell asleep with the smell of Cuban cigars
lingering in your nose.
 I'm The Bad Guy
Chapter Notes

Have a nice sunday everyone!

When you woke up the next morning, you didn’t feel rested at all. The only thing that comforted
you about that was the fact that Karl was wrapped around your body, snoring softly into your hair.
You relaxed against his sleeping form with a sigh, closing your eyes again and trying to make sense
of your emotional state.

You reminiscent about what happened yesterday, forcing yourself to accept that what happened was
beyond your control. You would’ve never done this if your life wasn’t on the line.

But that in itself felt wrong. Mia didn’t deserve to be removed from her home. Rose didn’t deserve
to be subjected to Miranda's madness. Ethan didn’t deserve to have his wife taken away for a
second time, let alone what might happen to his child.

Was your life more important than that of the Winters? No, it was not. But your life also didn’t
matter for the success of Miranda's plan. She would’ve taken Rose no matter what you’d done, she
didn’t need you to make her dream become reality. She just used you for convenience.

Not for the first time you wondered how anyone could support her in doing this.

Lady Dimitrescu was a mother herself, even if Bela, Cassandra and Daniela weren’t her daughters
by blood. She had done so much for her daughters, their safety more important to her than her
pride, hence why she asked you to swear not to harm them.

Donna had basically watched her whole family die when Miranda tested on all of them, adamant
that she needed a Beneviento as one of her Lords (Which Karl had told you about at some point.)
The doll maker hid herself from the world, her only company her dolls, and you were sure Donna
could’ve gotten the help she needed if Mother Miranda wasn’t in the picture.

Then there was Moreau, her most loyal follower, that she treated with disgust and hatred, only
keeping him around for what little use he had for her. She probably just didn’t want to go through
the effort of finding another person to take his place. He wanted nothing more than her love and no
matter how many times she would knock him down, Moreau wouldn’t rise against her.

Why couldn’t they see her the way Karl and you saw her?

Heisenberg and you had a heated discussion once, arguing about asking the other Lords to join
forces against Miranda. It was a dream of yours, unrealistic sadly and way too dangerous to try.
You said you were sure you could persuade them, if given enough information and time, but Karl
shut it down.

Lady Dimitrescu, although forced into it, had accepted her role as a Lord of the village and the
power it held rather fast. She’d never give that up, nor risk her daughters getting hurt by Miranda's
wrath. You don’t know much about her actual background, but she had told you she was a distant
member of the Dimitrescu family that looked over the village and was just coincidentally around
when Miranda searched for her first Lord. While she never outright said it, you got the feeling that
even though she had noble blood, she was still a woman in a time when her gender made her
nothing more than flesh for a man to take and make his own. You kind of comprehended her hatred
for men she had to this day.

Donna was too scared, her mind too fragile to endanger herself like that. The seamstress was
passive, the thought of fighting Mother Miranda of all people downright crazy, not that she would
be necessarily wrong about that. You knew she could fend for herself if she gets pushed enough,
but it was one thing to threaten one of her fellow Lords and fighting the person that created her.
Also, you were pretty sure she was thankful to Miranda for giving her the means to make her
favourite doll walk and talk as if alive.

Moreau was blindly devoted to her. Even though he was your friend, all of the Lords were at this
point if you were being honest with yourself, you knew it would take much to convince him to go
against Miranda. It might even be impossible. He absorbed her every word, seeing her as his actual
mother than the reason he looked the way he did. But there was also a side to him that relished in
the power he had around the village, and he had to thank Miranda for that.

Reluctantly, you had to accept that in the end, it was very much possible that you’d have to fight
the people you had gotten to know over the last four years. The only person you wanted to kill was
Mother Miranda, but if any of the other Lords decided to fight against Karl and you, you had no
choice but to end them as well. You dreaded that outcome deeply.

Karl snorted in his sleep, his muscles starting to flex underneath his skin as he began to wake up.
The sound brought a little smile to your lips, warmth spreading in your belly as the man you loved
opened his eyes.

“Morning.” He grumbled, voice deep and rough.

You leaned in for a kiss, one of your hands caressing his arm that laid over your waist. “Hey.”

“How are you?” He asked, way too serious for being awake for only a few seconds.

You gave a little shrug, leaning your forehead against his. “About the same as yesterday, I think.”

“Figured as much,” Karl admitted, the tip of his nose poking against yours. “How about a shower
with me?”

“Karl, I’m sorry but I’m not in the mood for sex in the shower today.” You denied his offer, but he
snickered in response.

“Who said anything about sex, sweetheart? You’ve got one dirty mind.”

You didn’t quite believe him as he said that, watching him get up and ignoring your whine of
protest. He offered you his hand with one of his charming smiles.

“Come on, do your idiot the favour of indulging him.”

You giggled and gave him your hand, even if you didn’t feel like leaving the bed yet. Karl dragged
you into the bathroom and wasted no time to start undressing first you before he did the same with
himself. The only thing that stayed on you was the cuff, but he widened it so you could easily clean
the skin underneath without taking it off. He wasn’t lying when he said he couldn’t get himself to
remove it from you again, not that you minded.

You stepped into the shower first, twisting the knob to turn the water on and starting to adjust the
temperature while Karl rid himself of the last bit of his clothing.

“By the way, I’m hot enough on my own, you don’t need to boil me.” He teased, stepping inside
the shower.

“And I’m cool as I am, so I don’t need to freeze in here.” You teased right back, even if you
weren’t really in it. Your breakdown still weighed you down.

Karl wrapped his arms around you from behind, kissing the back of your neck. “How about we
compromise on lukewarm for now?”

When both of you were comfortable with the water, the two of you alternating who was standing
under the water, but never stopping to touch each other.

It had taken you longer than you wanted to admit until you had bought some actual shower gel and
shampoo, having adjusted to using simple soap for everything and being preoccupied with building
an army to really care.

But once you had those items, you couldn’t believe you’ve spent so much time showering without
them. Karl had refused to use them at first, ever the stubborn bastard that wanted to prove the way
he showered for decades was more than enough, but eventually, he warmed up to it.

You grabbed the shampoo bottle, squirting a good amount into the palm of your hand and inhaling
the scent. It smelled divine and you reached up to start working it into Karls hair, who had assumed
you’d use it on yourself and wasn’t prepared for it. He adjusted pretty quickly, leaning down a little
so you could work more comfortably, and sighing contently.

Once you’ve worked it in efficiently, he returned the favour on your hair. The rough texture of his
fingers scratched over your scalp and it caused goosebumps to erupt over your back, which Karl
had learned meant you liked whatever he did.

Once done with that, he grabbed the shower gel and continued with soaping up your body next.
Though it could’ve been seen as sexual, the way he carefully handled your breast and distributed
the gel over your skin, you knew he really wasn’t out for seduction today. Even if you were sure he
wouldn’t refuse if the need arose in you.

No, he wanted to comfort you, to take care of you. And that, more than anything, had you blinking
away tears. You didn’t want him to notice, not wanting him to think those were sad tears.

You stood under the water stream, rinsing off the shampoo and soap from your form as Karl leaned
back against the tiles, watching quietly. You loved this casual intimacy so much.

When you were free of any residue, you grabbed the bottle of shower gel and started it rubbing
over Karls chest and arms, chuckling in delight as he twitched when you touched his arms pits. He
was ticklish, even if he didn’t want you to notice, which you did ages ago. You motioned for him to
turn around, starting to soap up his back, gently massaging his muscles. His head dropped back as
he relaxed, a smile on his lips.
You couldn’t help yourself and pressed a kiss to the middle of his spine, not carrying about the
soap. You wiped it away with the back of your hand while Karl turned around, grabbing your hips
and guiding you backwards and under the water and then just a little further back, so he could let
the water wash him down.

He kissed you meanwhile, his thumbs caressing the skin over your pelvic bones. Sometimes, you
couldn’t believe that the man who had once thrown you against a wall in his blind rage, was also
the same man that handled your body with such a tenderness now. Some people would call this him
getting soft, but you knew better.

Karl Heisenberg hadn’t changed or gone soft, but he opened up to show you a side of himself that
he had never let come forth before. He was still the ruthless, unkind Lord you got introduced to, but
not towards you.

With a sigh, you turned the water off and broke apart from the kiss, your hand reaching up to caress
his cheek. “Thank you.”

You didn’t specify what you were thanking him for, as it entailed so many things, but you hoped he
understood nonetheless. It seemed like he did, grinning and leaning in for a last quick peck before
he stepped out to dry off.

You followed suit, if a little more reluctantly. The reluctance came from the fact that once you got
dressed, you needed to get to Miranda's lab to check up on Mia Winters. You dreaded having to
face the probably scared and crying woman, that will beg you to release her but you couldn’t.

Karl sighed, a little frustrated, when he noticed the change of your mood. You adverted your eyes,
hating you weren’t able to act as if nothing was weighing you down anymore after he comforted
you to the best of his abilities.

“Sweetheart, what do you need from me?”

The question caught you off guard and with a start you realized he wasn’t frustrated with you, but
because his attempt to console you seemed in vain.

“Karl, believe me, you did everything you could.” You said, grabbing his face with both hands to
force him to see the honesty of your words reflected in your eyes. “I’m very happy that you’re with
me.”

You knew he believed you, but it wasn’t enough. “Not until you’re feeling better.”

You rolled your eyes fondly. “Karl, I’m afraid of facing Mia, that’s all.”

“Look, I’m not going to lie and tell you it’s going to be easy. You can tell her whatever you’d like,
but in the end, she’ll still see you as the bad guy no matter what. Don’t get too attached to her,
because we both know there’s a high chance she won’t make it out of that cell again and you’ll only
hurt yourself if you open up to her.” He told you, with a seriousness that proved he knew what he
was talking about.

You looked at him for a long time, thinking about telling him that you’re basically in the same
position he was four years ago when you went with him. But he didn’t listen to his own advice,
he’d opened up to you and you wondered if he still thought you’d one day leave him behind. You
didn’t voice those thoughts, as it seemed like he didn’t realize the comparison he just built, and you
didn’t want to upset him.

Instead, you forced a smile and nodded. “I’ll try my best.”

“That’s my girl.” He praised, kissing you before pushing you towards the door. “Now get dressed.”

You left the bathroom and went to the closet, picking out an outfit while Karl brushed his hair. You
two exchanged positions, him getting dressed while you brushed your hair in turn. You didn’t care
that it was still damp when you were done, you just wanted to get this over with.

You gave Karl another kiss before you went on your way, your feet starting to feel heavy the closer
you got to the lab.

Your anxiety was spiking through the roof, you wanted to throw up at the very thought of meeting
the woman you took from her home face to face. What should you even say?

You thought back to how Karl acted when you two met and cringed. No, you couldn’t bring
yourself to be so repellent towards Mia. He’d asked you for your name, but you already knew Mia's
name, so why bother with asking?

You could introduce yourself, that might be a good start. And then what?

What do you answer her when she asks about her baby and husband? The truth? Would that make it
even worse?

Oh God, what do you tell her if she asks why she’s here? Because a psycho woman needed to take
her place in the family so she could study a baby that could potentially be a vessel for said woman's
dead daughter?

Should you just tell her nothing? Keep her in the dark? Would that be better? How much were you
even allowed to tell her? Oh hell, what should you do?!

The hate for Mother Miranda was so intense at this point that it almost started to hurt, the Cadou
inside your chest throbbing.

Everything came to an abrupt stop inside your head when you entered the entrance to the tunnel.
You frowned, the sound of something banging against metal echoing through the dimly lit
underpass and you approached the door to Miranda's lab warily.

Could it be Karl? Did he want to make it easier on you and take over your job? No, you told him
you didn’t want him anywhere near the lab and he had promised you to stay away.

Deciding the best course of action was to just get inside and see for yourself, you readied yourself.
The old door creaked open and you stepped inside without much thought, only to turn to the cell
and see a rock flying at you.

With a startled yelp you ducked and hid behind the table. “What the fuck?!”

More rocks got thrown in your general direction.

“Who the fuck are you!? I’m so done with random fucking people putting me in fucking cells!”
"Mrs. Winters!” You called out, finally realizing Mia was awake and very much pissed,
understandably. “I-I’d like to explain myself!”

The rock-throwing stopped and you hesitantly looked over the edge of the table at the cell, Mia
standing at the bars and flashing her teeth at you. To be honest, you had expected to find a crying
mess of a woman that would cower away in fear once she saw you, not her to be this ready to fight,
not scared at all apparently.

“Tell me what the fuck is going on! Where am I?!” She demanded.

Slowly, you straightened up, but stayed standing behind the table, in case you needed to hide again.

“Okay, so eh…” You stammered nervously, trying to hold eye contact. “I’m Y/N, and last night I…
I took you from your home while you slept.”

Mia lifted another rock from the ground and you held your hands up to shield yourself. “Against
my will, Mrs. Winters!”

“Against your will, my ass.” She sneered, still holding the rock tightly. “Where is my family?”

“Look, this is all a huge fucking mess.” You exhaled tiredly, giving her a pleading look. “I didn’t
want to do this, I was forced.”

“Where. Is. My. Family?” Mia asked again, every word filled with venom.

“They’re at home still.” You answered her finally.

“Are they safe?” She asked next.

You hated having to answer that, it hurt that much. “Not really. I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you
much, but the person that forced me to put you in that cell has also taken your place in your
family.”

The rock flew past your head and against the wall behind you, shattering a picture Miranda had
hung there.

“You fucking monster! Let me the fuck go!” Mia was screaming at the top of her lungs.

The desperation was what broke you, your eyes filling up with unshed tears, the word monster
stinging. “Please, I couldn’t do anything to stop this! No one here has a fucking choice! We’re all
prisoners!”

You had hoped that Mia would calm down a little, she must see how horrible you felt after all, but
instead, the woman threatened you.

“You’re dead, Y/N. Just you wait until my husband gets here, you’re all going to be fucked.”

You looked at her silently, Karl words from before stuck in your head. No matter what you do,
she’ll see you as the bad guy. He was right. Although you were telling the truth, Mia wouldn’t and
couldn’t believe you and something about that made you angry. Even worse, the numbness you felt
the day before came back and you didn’t feel much of anything anymore.
Something must’ve tipped Mia off that your demeanour had changed and she backed away from
the bars, not backing down exactly, but getting suspicious and deciding it she was better off staying
quiet.

You went over to the little fridge Miranda had down here, opened it and grabbed some food,
throwing it onto a plate without much care. Next, you grabbed a water bottle, walking over to the
cell and crouching down to push everything in through the little opening at the bottom.

You got back up and turned for the door, without another word and left Mia behind again. You
thought you heard her call after you, but you didn’t care.

You didn’t care about all you had done, didn’t care that you got viewed as a monster by everyone.
All you cared about was getting Karl and you out of here and if that meant leaving the rest of your
humanity behind… Well, you suddenly felt like it was a worthy sacrifice.
 Little Rose

February 9th 2021, 3 am at Night.

Mother Miranda has been gone for five weeks now and during that time, Karl and you had been
fighting more.

The stress of it all came crashing down; The fact that you’d get your revenge soon, your new sense
of yourself, just everything. But it wasn’t the stress that had you two fighting, it was Karls ambition
to take care of you and yours to ignore everything and continue working.

It was like your relationship had done a 180° turn, him looking after you while you just wanted to
bury yourself in work and forget it all. Not that he was neglecting his work, mind you.

You still carried out Mother Mirandas order, feeding Mia Winters and making sure she’s healthy,
because even though you hated how her face reminded you of what you had done, you couldn’t
bring yourself to neglect your duty. After all, this whole mess wasn’t just hard on you.

Tonight was one of the few nights in which you had agreed to let Karl spoil you. He really was
trying his best, pushing his own needs and fears aside because he thought yours were more
important. You had a long talk about it all, promising each other to work on your relationship as
well as everything else that was going on.

And it ended right here, in your bed.

You were laying on your side, one leg was thrown behind you over Karl's hips as he railed you with
abandon. One of his hands was gently putting pressure to your throat while the other was between
your legs, stimulating your clit in time with his thrusts.

The sex had been going on for hours, at least it felt like it, hard to tell without constantly looking at
a clock. But judging by the fact that you two had to take two breaks in between just to keep the
energy up was telling in itself. The many used condoms and ripped packages that littered the floor
was also a hint.

It was the best kind of distraction from it all, being lost in pleasure for so long that you couldn’t tell
where his body began and yours ended.

Karl had been nuzzling your hair but now leaned down to place a hard bite to the side of your neck,
effectively ripping another orgasm from you. You cried out his name, his thrust stretching the
feeling out for as long as he could before he too found his release, twitching against your back with
a satisfied grunt before going slack once more. Your walls weakly clenched around his length,
making him shudder with aftershocks.

You were panting heavily as he used the hand on your throat to push your head back so he could
kiss you, stealing what little breath you still had for himself.

“Fuck, I could do this forever.” He grinned, his voice so openly honest it almost hurt with how
good it felt to hear it.
You were about to respond with something equally warming when a loud alarm rang through the
factory. Both of you flinched and covered your ears, groaning annoyedly at the intrusion. It let up
rather fast, luckily, but Karl had gone stiff at your back.

“What the fuck was that?” You asked him worriedly.

“Shit!” He curses, pulling out so fast that you winced at the discomfort. “That’s the emergency
call.”

“Does that mean the factory is on fire or something?!” You jumped up from the bed and grabbed
your clothes in a hurry, even if your legs protested about their sudden need to hold you up after
being like jelly for so long.

“Even fucking worse.” Karl's voice was dark and low as he too began to dress himself, throwing
the used condom to meet the others on the floor without care. “That’s not the alarm for the factory,
that’s Mirandas emergency call.”

You froze. “She’s…not supposed to be back so soon though.”

“Something must’ve gone wrong at the Winters house.” Heisenberg grabbed his hammer and
turned to check you over, clearly worried. “The witch is back.”

The two of you all but ran outside, hair a mess though you could both hide it with your respective
headwear. Using his power, Karl let a big gear float over to where you were standing, stepping onto
it and holding out his hand for you to take. You didn’t like it when you had to travel like that, but it
was the fastest way to get to the church. You grabbed his hand and Karl pulled you up and close to
his chest, holding you tightly as the gear lifted into the air.

You pressed your face against his shirt, listening to the howls of the Lycans that had also heard the
alarm, which had agitated them. There was nothing either of you could say to make the anxiety any
better. Mother Miranda would’ve contacted someone ahead of time if she had to come back earlier
than planned, so she must’ve had to leave in a hurry. Something had to have gone really wrong.

The gear landed just outside the church and Karl ran inside with you in tow. The other Lords have
already gathered, circling Mother Miranda in the middle, closer to her than usual and no longer
disguised as Mia Winters. As they all turned to look at you, they revealed that Miranda wasn’t
alone. Rose was with her.

“About time you two showed up!” Lady Dimitrescu sneered immediately.

“Shut your hole already!” Karl hissed right back. “We came as fast as we fucking could, now
what’s going on?!”

Little Rose began to cry at all the yelling and you cringed at the way Miranda crooned at her to be
quiet.

“Enough with you two! Time is limited!” She didn’t have to raise her voice, or even look at
anyone, to make sure you were all on edge. “Umbrella has uncovered my plans and have tried to
kill me.”

“What? Were you insured?!” Moreau panicked.

Miranda scoffed. “Those fools shot me until I was riddled with holes. As if simple bullets could
harm me.”

“And what now? How do you have Rose?” You asked, almost afraid to even speak up.

“They assumed they had killed me.” Miranda laughed. “And they’ve put me in a van with both
Rose and the father! I escaped easily of course and left Ethan behind. If he isn’t dead already,
hypothermia will make sure he is.”

Karl and you shared a quick glance before focusing back on the priestess, so he could ask about the
most pressing thing.

“So, what’s your plan now?”

Miranda chuckled, leaning down to kiss Roses head excitedly. “The same as it has always been.
Rose is Eveline's successor, the perfect vessel for my Eva. And it is time to finally bring her back!”

Her eyes snapped up to you and Karl. “Heisenberg and Y/N, go and release the Lycans so they can
set out after sunrise. The villagers have served their purpose, I do no longer need them.”

This time, you hid your disgust from her, and together with Karl, said what she wanted to hear.
“Yes, Mother Miranda.”

Miranda smiled brightly, addressing the others. “Get ready, we’ll all meet up here at sunrise to
perform the first step in the ceremony. I’ll make sure to have a villager bring me all the items I
need.”

She dismissed everyone with a wave of her hand, turning her attention back to the baby in her arms
and forgetting you were even there. The Lords and you exchanged a quick look, one that could’ve
meant many unspoken things, before everyone went on their way again, preparing.

As Karl and you stood back on the gear and were flying across the sky, you looked down at the
village with sadness.

These people didn’t deserve what was coming to them. Yes, they were blindly devoted to a cruel
witch and yes, they had left you out to die when you first came here, but they were good people at
heart.

But your sorrow didn’t matter, you knew that. Mother Miranda wanted them dead and that was
what is going to happen to them regardless. At least the Lycans wouldn’t get hungry tonight.

“I know what you’re thinking and want you to knock it off.” Karl said suddenly and with venom.

You looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean.” He replied with a coldness you weren’t used to anymore when
coming from him. “We’re playing that bitches game still. We do what she wants until we have the
perfect opportunity to strike.”

“I know, Karl.” You looked back at the village. “Their fate has been sealed a long time ago.”

The gear hit the ground at the entrance to the stronghold and Karl stepped off, with you following
slightly slower.
“We’ve been working on our army for way too long to fuck it up now, Y/N.” Heisenberg still
wanted to drive the point in further.

You rolled your eyes. “Yes, I know! Do you really think I’d back down now?”

That earned you a long pause. You stared at his back in disbelieve and shock at what that silence
from him might mean.

“You still don’t fully trust me, do you?”

Karl turned sharply, dragging his glasses from his face. “Don’t even fucking go there! I’ve been
waiting all my fucking life for this moment, so ex-fucking-cuse me for being a little on edge.”

“And I told you I will be with you until the bitter end.” You pointed out, voice calm but quiet.

He softened slightly, looking at you regretfully. “Y/N, you have dug your way into my heart, but
killing Miranda will always be my Nr. 1 priority until she’s dead.”

Though it did hurt a little, it was the truth. Even after all you two had achieved together, he would
still drop you if it meant he could kill Miranda. He might not want to, might even hate himself for
the rest of his life afterwards, but he would still do it. And deep down, you hoped he would.

Karl approached you slowly, grabbing the back of your head and tugging you towards his lips. The
kiss had fire and love, but it was also a silent promise.

You promised once more to not betray him. He promised to fight until the very end to bring down
the tyrant that created the both of you.

Loud howling interrupted the moment and the kiss broke apart so you two could get back to the
task at hand. Karl walked into the stronghold first, swinging his hammer around menacingly so the
few Lycans already gathering would keep their distance. He was not in the mood to tolerate them
today.

“Urias!” He yelled, his voice booming around the old ruins. “Get over here!”

Somewhere in the distance, you heard the infamous roar of the Lycan leader, followed by fast
approaching big steps. It came from above, you realized, and Urias jumped down from one of the
broken upper floors, landing just a few feet in front of you.

Urias had fully recovered from his fight with the Varcolacs and was standing tall as the undoubted
leader of his pack.

Normally, you would have jumped away and screeched at the suddenness of it all, but just as Karl
did, you stood your ground. Urias seemed to study you for a moment and if you didn’t know any
better, he looked surprised.

The look gave you a confidence boost and a rush of bravery came over you as you stepped up to
Urias. You wanted to prove to Karl that you were just as serious about killing Miranda as he is and
were ready to do what it needs to be done. Even if it meant this.

“Lycans! Tomorrow at sunrise you shall invade the village and eat your fill.” You said, voice loud
and demanding, even though you knew they had no real connection to you. You were no leader, had
no power over them.
Without hesitation, you leaned forward to be directly in Urias face, who was looking down at you
with interest. “And you will make sure that no one will be left to disturb our plan.”

Urias grinned at you, straightening up and releasing another loud roar. The whole pack joined in,
howling and growling in union. Guilt wanted to crawl its way back into your consciousness, but
you didn’t let it. Whatever must be done to kill Miranda.

Karl was too stunned by your performance to say anything until now, but a sadistic grin spread over
his face now as he too addressed the Lycans, just to make sure they’d listen.

“Well boys, you heard my Lapdog! Have fun.”

It was done, the final nail in the coffin of every single villager hammered in. As the Lycans spread
out and went off towards the village in a rush, you did look after them with a little tear rolling down
your cheek. Karl stood next to you, seeing the droplet and gently wiping it away with his gloved
thumb.

“Just a little more, Y/N. We’re about to end it all.”

You nodded silently, starting to walk off towards the entrance with Karl walking next to you. You
felt a little lost now, everything around you becoming a blur as your only focus became pulling this
through. Karl and you needed to get out of here, not only for your own sake, but because Miranda
couldn’t be left in this world.

Would she stop if Eva came back? Probably not. Would she let everyone leave if she got her back?
Oh hell no. Miranda will kill you all as soon as you’ve served your purpose, just like what she was
doing to the villagers now. You realized Karl and you weren’t just fighting against Miranda, but
also against time itself. But while you had lost most of what had built you over your life, you still
had your will to survive somehow.

Back on the gear, Karl was hugging you from behind as he once again let the metal piece float
across the sky. The night's cold bit at your skin and you leaned back against Karl, whose body
could be considered a working furnace on its own.

“Karl, do you really think we can take her on?” You asked, almost afraid to even say it.

You had faith in your rebellion, you really did. But you had to admit that all the thousands of
Soldats and Lycans would merely be a distraction for Mother Miranda. In the end, it was Karls and
yours united powers that would have to give her the final blow and though you also had immense
faith in him, you were scared of the consequences of losing against Miranda.

Karl barked a laugh, filled with confidence. “Of course we can! You see, sweetheart, the biggest
mistake in Mother Miranda's plan is that she underestimates us. She sees us as weak little chess
pieces in her game and we’ll use that view she has on us to our advantage.”

You turned your head at an angle that allowed you to kiss him softly. “I can’t wait to kill her with
you.”

The first little sunrays were starting to dash cross the horizon as Heisenberg and you arrived back at
the church, metaphorical masks on tight across your faces as you entered and re-joined the others.
“All done!” Karl called out to Mother Miranda, flashing her a grin that was all cockiness and pride.
“The Lycans are ready.”

“About time.” Lady Dimitrescu rolled her eyes at his display, flashing you a little smile in turn.

“Now, where is that mortal that brings me my goods.” Mother Miranda muses, as if on cue perking
up at the sound of footsteps just outside.

“I’m here Mother Miranda!” A man stumbled into the church, shivering with either fear or
excitement as he saw the rest of you also in attendance. “I-I greet you oh grand Lords!”

“Safe it.” Karl sneered, swinging his hammer over his shoulder to drive his point in further. “You
got the stuff Mother Miranda requested?”

The man nodded eagerly, holding up a simple cloth bag for Miranda to see. He seemed to suddenly
recognize the thing in her arms as a baby and his expression turned into one of confusing for a split
second. It was wiped away fast, but everyone saw regardless.

“Give each of my children a flask from the bag.” Miranda ordered him and the man reached inside
and pulled out a dirty yellow flask, handing it shakily to Lady Dimitrescu.

He then went to Donna and then Moreau, repeating the motion. As he came to stand before you
two, he hesitated slightly, as if not sure which one of you should get it. You held out your hand for
him, taking the decision from him, even if you weren’t sure if Miranda wanted you to have it. Karl
didn’t seem to care.

You turned the flask carefully over with your hand. The lid had Heisenberg's crest of it, telling you
the man didn’t just randomly hand them out. The sides had some stickers on them, presenting a
baby with the familiar tendrils of the Cadou sticking out its back. You wanted to grimace but willed
yourself to show nothing at all. Even when you read the last label; Rosemary W. Torso.

The remaining three Lords looked over their flasks as well, all seeming to be equally confused.
Mother Miranda lifted Rose up above her head, drawing back everyone's attention. She started to
chant something, and at first, nothing happened, but then a white light struck the child, who didn’t
react to it at all.

You couldn’t hide your shocked gasp as the baby started to lose its form, turning crystal-like and
deforming, as if it had been left in a cave for so long that it had become one with the rocks there.
The others tried to look unaffected, but from the corner of your eyes, you saw Lady Dimitrescu
shift nervously on her feet. Donna held Angie tighter to her chest, you suddenly realized the doll
was unusually quiet, and Moreau began to tremble. Slowly, you looked at your side to where Karl
was standing, his fists clenching tightly into fists.

The village men stumbled a few feet back in fear but said nothing yet.

Miranda slowly lowered Roses crystallized body, looking it over for a moment before walking over
to Lady Dimitrescu.

“Open the flask.” She ordered and as soon as Alcina did, Miranda grabbed what used to be the
baby's head with one hand and twisted.
A sickening crunch was heard as it popped off and the only reason you didn’t scream in disgust and
fear was because the nameless man did it for you. Miranda ignored him, putting the head inside
Alcina's flask and ordering her to close it again.

She went over to Donna, who had already opened hers. Miranda broke off the two legs, causing
Donna to flinch with each crack and trembling when she closed the flask.

She did the same with Rose's arms, putting them into the flask in Moreau's slimy hands. To your
dismay, the fish Lord didn’t seem as affected by it as the others were before him. Maybe he was
good at hiding it, suddenly, you hoped, because you couldn’t believe that he could just shrug this all
off so fast.

The torso remained in Mother Miranda's grasp as she approached Karl and you. Reluctantly, you
popped the lid off of the flask and held it out as steadily as you could and adverted your gaze as
Miranda put the last part of what used to be Rose inside.

The heavy silence that followed didn’t hold for long, as the terrified man finally found his voice.

“Mother Miranda, forgive me for speaking, but why would you do such a thing to a baby?!”

You were glad her attention wasn’t on you anymore as she turned and addressed the question not
only the man had.

“This is the chosen child. She will return to her original form no matter what befalls her.”

Her words didn’t soothe him and the fear was finally enough for him, turning and running off
without risking another look back. Distantly, you realized he didn’t bow to Mother Miranda, but
figured it didn’t matter anyway. He was a dead man walking already.

You exhaled shakily, closing the flask with dread. Karl subtly stepped a little closer to you, laying
the hand that wasn’t holding his hammer against your lower back as a little token of solidarity. He
wanted you to know you weren’t alone.

“My dear children.” Mother Miranda turned sharply and walked to her throne, standing above you
in superiority. “The time for my Eva to come back has arrived. Each of you holds a part that is vital
for the ceremony and I trust each and every one of you to protect it until the time is right for me to
perform it.”

A dramatic pause followed as she swept her gaze over all of you, but you noticed some special
attention being on Moreau.

“I love you all and am proud of you. Now go and secure the flasks in your respective territories.
Return back here at 9 am, so we may discuss the details of the next few steps.”

Karl was about to lose it, you felt it in the way his hand on your back flexed against your clothes.
With a deep breath, you looked up at him with a look that you hoped would give him a little more
strength to hide his rage. It worked and he nodded a little to give his thanks, before locking eyes
with his fellow Lords.

All five of you communicated without words what your next shared words shall be.

“We will not disappoint you, Mother Miranda.”

 Winter Is Coming
Chapter Notes

Hey guys! Just a heads up and a spoiler ahead, for all of you that are worried about Karls fate.

SPOILER: Karl gets a happy ending and Ethan survives too. The other Lords fates aren't as
bright though, at least it would seem so.

It was never this quiet when everyone left a meeting.

Lady Dimitrescu walked off towards her castle, refusing to look at the flask in her hand. Donna was
cradling the flask to her chest together with Angie, that was tracing along their crest on the lid.
Moreau on the other hand walked out with the flask right at his face, studying it with a sick
curiosity that made you question ever having befriended him.

Karl and you stepped outside just as sunrise hit and he beckoned you back onto the gear with
urgency. You held the flask tightly in both of your hands as you did as he’d asked, not surprised
that he wanted to get out of here fast. But as you lifted up into the air once more, you realized it
wasn’t just his need to get away from Miranda that had him hurry you along.

A silent gasp left your lips as you looked down at the village that was being overrun by the Lycans.
You spotted Urias on the roof of the house with the red chimney, holding his hammer high above
his head as he roared to his pack to unleash their hunger upon the inhabitants. You leaned closer to
Karl but couldn’t and wouldn’t advert your eyes from the scene.

You were the one that had given the Lycans the command, the least thing you could do was watch
what horrors you’ve released.

“Where do you want to put the flask?” You asked in a hushed voice, not looking at the man you
were talking to.

Karl scoffed. “Nowhere near my factory, that’s for damn sure.”

You nodded, cringing when you heard the first terrified screams of the people beneath. “How about
somewhere in the den? Urias could protect it once he’s…done here.”

Heisenberg hummed in agreement, the gear making its way back to the stronghold. “Good idea.
Could put it in the room behind Urias place.”

Only when the village started to distance itself did you finally look away, your eyes locking with
Karls behind the dark lenses. You finally addressed what just happened.

“Miranda just killed a baby, right in front of us.”

Karl sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Don’t think so.”

He carefully took the flask from you, looking it over. “Her essence is still intact. Can’t explain it,
must be something about the mold. Miranda said she is Eveline's successor, so I guess Rose isn’t as
easily killed as one might think.”

A small comfort at least. “So, the ceremony has her first dismantle and then reassemble Roses
body? How did she even figure out that’s how it’s supposed to go down?”

“You’re asking the wrong guy.” Karl chuckled bitterly. “I don’t want to think about it.”

You nodded in understanding, taking a deep breath as the gear landed at the stronghold. You
stepped off and walked inside, your previous hesitance nowhere to be found. Karl didn’t have to
speed up much to be back at your side. Walking through the empty halls, you’ve reached the red
door at the back of Urias own den and Karl unlocked it with a flick of his wrist.

You looked at the corridor covered in crystals with a beautiful fascination as you walked through it,
entering the room at the end.

The room wasn’t much, just a storage room really. Karl put the flask down next to a TV on the one
table in here, looking down at his own crest for a moment before facing you again. His gaze went
over your form before settling on your cuff, once more focusing on his crest, this time with a faint
smile though.

“You know, I always assumed I’d be on my own when the time came to face down that bitch.”

You closed the distance between you two, putting your arms around his neck. “But you aren’t.
Please don’t forget that.”

He pressed his lips to yours, his tired body melting against yours. The kiss was bittersweet and it
felt both like another promise and like sealing your fate, whatever it might be. With reluctance, it
broke apart, but you both stayed close for another minute as if to memorize these last few warming
moments before the big showdown.

“Alright, let’s do a quick check on the factory before we go back to the church.” Karl mumbled as
he pulled away and turned towards the secret passageway.

You followed him, glancing back at the yellow flask for the last time before fully turning your back
to it. Out of all the innocent people forced into this mess, Rose was the one your heart ached for the
most, even if you didn’t want to think about it.

Rose was crystallized and broken into several pieces, her mother locked away in an underground
lab and her father presumed dead. Deep down, you hoped you could somehow save her as well.

On the way over to the factory, you had taken your cloud into your hands and were playing with it.
Or fidgeting more, you mused, desperate for any kind of distraction from the death that visited the
village.

Distantly, you could still hear the Lycans howling, their brutal raid not done yet. You had hoped
they’d at least be fast about it, but it seemed your hope was misplaced. It also didn’t escape you
that it was very much possible for the Lycans to be tearing into the flesh of their own relatives right
now, long lost faces of the people they used to love. Once more you forced the guilt back down.
Karl paused before entering the factory itself, thinking about something. “Maybe I should call them
back for now…Urias at the very least needs to go back and guard the flask.”

You shuddered tiredly, hoping he wouldn’t see but of course, he did. Karl petted your head
affectionately, nodding towards the front doors.

“Go inside and start with the check. I’ll go back to the village and call them back for now.”

Though it sounded like a suggestion, you knew it wasn’t. He wanted to give you this little moment
of peace and a chance to forget what was going on for a while. You nodded, pressing a goodbye
kiss to his lips before walking off towards the front door. From the corner of your eyes, you saw
another large metal piece float over to where Karl was standing, another transport for him.

You stepped inside the factory and as soon as the darkness enveloped you fully, you broke down
and cried. You didn’t want it to happen in front of Karl, didn’t want to give him another reason to
think you might back down from fulfilling his dream.

As the tears hit the metal floor and you started to gather yourself somewhat, you finally admitted to
yourself that while you were still plagued with the numbness that overcame you after everything
you had done, there was still a shadow of your past self inside you. You mutilated bodies, you lied
to innocent people, you took a woman from her home and locked her in a cell…And you had
allowed the Lycans to massacre a whole town.

If your past self could see you now, she would despise the woman you had become. The conflict
inside you created a headache, not that the crying helped. You told yourself that you were forced,
that you’re just as much of a victim as the rest of the people involved. But there was also a voice
that told you it was all your fault regardless. How much longer could you conceal all of those
things?

With a start, you realized that Karl could come back at any moment, going back to the village with
his means of travel doesn’t take long. You stubbornly wiped the tears away, fanning some air at
your face with your hands. Of everyone you could crack in front of, Karl was the one you wanted
to see least. Maybe, deep deep down, you also didn’t trust him fully.

You walked further inside the factory, entering the elevator and looking at the Duke, giving him a
weak smile.

“Why, if that isn’t one of my favourite customers!” The round man greeted you, his knowing eyes
focused on yours. “May I ask what has upset you so, my dear?”

You pressed a button and sniffled, leaned your back against the wall, facing him. “Mother Miranda
has her vessel and everything just keeps happening so fast.”

“Ah yes, little Rose has entered the picture.” He mused, his smile not faltering. “An extraordinary
child to say the least. She might even be the reason Mother Miranda meets her end.”

You frowned, shaking your head. “No way. Rose is a baby, albeit not a normal one, but still. Not to
mention the state she is in right now.”

The Duke laughed. “That’s just it, Y/N. The state she is in right now. Once fully returned to her
former form, she will be far stronger than Miranda.”
Not for the last time you would wonder how the Duke knew all of this.

You eyed the look he gave you warily. “And if so? She was already dragged into this mess, I don’t
want her to fight against Miranda, how even could she?”

“Well, her power can be harvested, if one wants to.” The merchant suggested, earning him a grunt
of defiance from you.

“We’re not going to use a damn baby, that would be stepping down to Mirandas level.”

A flash of intuition crossed over Duke's face, just a hint of it being there before it was gone again,
replaced by his usual smile. “I see, well then I’m glad you’re in the same team with the child's
father.”

“What are you talking about? Ethan is dead, left somewhere in the snow.” You pushed yourself off
the wall, about to demand answers when the elevator doors opened and Karl stepped in.

You looked at him in confused surprise before looking at the control panel on the wall and realizing
that you had talked long enough for the elevator to stop at the floor you wanted to get off on and
going back up again as Karl called for it.

Karl looked equally confused, his gaze switching between the merchant and you. “Something going
on in here?”

You swallowed and hesitated to answer but decided on telling him nothing was going on. The Duke
was talking nonsense, it wouldn’t help to bring it into Karl's already preoccupied mind. They had a
rebellion to lead, a supposed dead man walking didn’t need to be another worry.

Karl wasn’t satisfied with your answer, pressing the button for the last floor and not saying a word
to the Duke. The conversation died off entirely with you avoiding to look at the merchant that kept
telling you more stuff to worry about.

You followed Karl out once the elevator stopped at the right floor, not risking another glance at the
Duke in fear of what else he might see.

“What the hell did he tell you, Y/N?” Karl immediately asked once you were out of earshot.

You took a deep breath and shrugged. “Look, it’s stupid and you don’t need to be more on edge
right now.”

Karl huffed, not liking to be kept in the dark. “Fucking humour me, sweetheart.”

You rolled your eyes, but gave in. “The Duke said Ethan is still alive.”

“Ethan Winters? How does he know?” Karl chuckled, not believing it.

“You know how omniscient he can be, but I don’t buy it either. Ethan might have survived a mold
family, but he’s still human. His body can’t handle the Romanian cold for so long.” You agreed,
though a little bit of doubt still lingered in your mind. So far, the Duke was never wrong.

Karl pushed open the door to the storage hallway, where the not yet used Soldats were hung by
their shoulders on the wall with more waiting behind them. The two of you looked them over,
trying to see any indication of malfunction on any of them, but everything seemed to be in order.
You made a little tour around the factory undergrounds, checking up on various building stages for
the army and making sure everything was still running as per usual.

You ended up at his workstation, looking over the details of the development your plan had taken
and discussed the next steps as the roaring of an engine interrupted you.

Karl's head snapped to the hatch on the ground. “That freak better shut the fuck up before I make
him.”

You grabbed his face and made him look back at you. “We need everything we have to fight
Miranda. Sturm might be stupid, but he’s strong, so he’s staying.”

He rolled his eyes and pulled his face from your grasp. “Yes, ma’am.”

You playfully pushed him, grinning faintly. “You’re lucky you’re cute, you know.”

“I’d say the same thing about you, buttercup.” He grinned back, leaning in for a passionate kiss that
could’ve let to more if Sturm didn’t act up again.

You held Karl tightly so he wouldn’t make good on his earlier threat. “Come on, it’s almost time
for the next meeting.”

Heisenberg nodded reluctantly, grasping his hammer tightly in his one hand and your hand in the
other. He brought it up to kiss it softly.

“We’re getting out of here soon. Can’t wait to start a new life with you.”

Maybe you were selfish in feeling this way, but your earlier turmoil was forgotten as images of a
normal life came to your mind, with Karl and you in a house somewhere. The picture of him in a
domestic setting like that made you smile, you wanted this all to happen so bad.

Karl and you walked off towards the front doors, fingers intertwined. The doors opened for you and
as you stepped outside, you had to hold your breath for a few seconds to not cough with all the
smoke that came from the village.

“Did you call the Lycans back?”

Karl nodded. “Said I would, didn’t I? They got a taste for some vandalism though, some houses
burned down.”

This time, you walked down the usual path towards the church, after you pleaded to not have to fly
on another piece of metal. Karl had laughed at your apprehension, but obliged, your joined hands
breaking apart as you got closer. Why risk getting discovered now?

The smoke had started to lift somewhat as you entered the village, the quietness now very unusual
to you and reminding you of the time you first came here. But this time, the people living here were
actually dead and not just hiding.

As you got closer to the drawbridge that would lead you inside to the church, something caught
your attention from your peripheral vision. Heavy smoke clouded the sky, coming from somewhere
not too far from here. You didn’t know why it interested you, but you had to see what it was.

“Karl, you can go ahead, I’ll check something out real quick.”
Heisenberg followed your gaze and shrugged. “Fine, do what you must. I’m waiting for you at the
door to the cave.”

You walked off towards the smoke, slowly starting to realize where it must come from. You walked
up the hill of Fallow Plot, hearing a few roaming Lycans hiding somewhere in the tall grass. As you
had suspected, the house that seemed to have burned down just a few minutes ago was none other
than Luiza's house.

You looked at it for a long time, remembering the friendly faces that had welcomed you into their
home, had offered you baked goods and wine. Another twinge of guilt pulled at your heartstrings
and you murmured an apology to the people who had died here before turning and walking back.

There was no use in drowning in misery, you had a bitch to kill after all.

You walked through the open stone wall, assuming Karl had opened it for you from the inside as
you’d assumed you’d have to walk around it to a little open spot and squeeze through it. As you
walked across the open bridge, you heard Karl talking to someone.

“…Oh, you’re not local. Even better.”

The sounds of metal hitting metal followed, combined with a loud and painful groan of pain as
something hit the floor hard.

“Mother Miranda is gonna love you.” Karl laughed, the kind of laugh you always described to him
as evil.

You entered the room with a suspicious frown, seeing Karl use his powers to secure a last piece of
scrap metal over the face of whoever he just caught. You stopped in your tracks, staring down at the
man covered in metal bits with a rod sticking out of what you presume was his chest.

Karl was crouching down and securing a chain around the man's hands as you released a loud sigh.

“I leave you alone for five minutes and you stab someone?”

Karl looked up at you with a sly smile. “What else did you expect me to do?"

“…Okay, good point.” You admitted, crossing your arms over your chest. “But why didn’t you just
kill him?”

“Not local.” He answered, straightening up and pulling the chain over his shoulder, his other one
occupied by his hammer. “A little fun couldn’t hurt, don’t you think?”

The man was only half-conscious, if at all, and you looked at his metal-covered form for a long
while. You too weren’t local when you came here. Why did you even bother to care anymore
though? It doesn’t matter, Karl can have all the fun he wants, not that you could stop him. It wasn’t
the first time you watched him playing with lost souls.

“Alright, but let’s hurry along. Mother Miranda is waiting.”

Karl pulled the man along the floor, the rod that had impaled him falling off, and you opened the
door for him. Karl could’ve easily used his powers to make this easier on himself, but you got the
sense that he needed to release some tension in his muscles, so physical activity it was.
After about a minute of walking, Karl started to drop some pieces that clung to the man without
saying anything, causing you to stumble over one and just so catching yourself against a wall.

“Karl! You could watch out for me, you know?!”

He looked over his shoulder to you, smirking. “Quit your whining, we’re almost there!”

You sighed while shaking your head, your gaze wandering down to the uncovered man and
stopping dead in your tracks. Karl heard your footsteps halt and stopped too, turning to look at you.

“What?”

You gasped at Ethan on the floor, covered in dirt and blood and with barely open eyes. “K-Karl…
That’s Ethan Winters.”

Karl looked down at the man, raising his eyebrows. “You sure? Looks to me like a basic white
guy.”

“Yes I’m fucking sure!” You hissed with too much rage, sucking in a startled breath of air through
your clenched teeth. “I could never forget that face.”

Heisenberg tilted his head and pursed his lips, contemplating. “So, Duke did tell the truth after all.
That man is either really fucking lucky or not entirely human.”

“Fucks sake, why did he have to come here.” You said it more than actually asked, not that anyone
would have answered you.

“But hey, we can use that to our advantage!” Karl pointed out. “Gain some extra points from
Mother Miranda for having captured him.”

“Great.” Was all you said to that. The family has already been ripped apart, thanks to you, what did
it matter if Ethan dies now after all?

The chain dropped to the floor and Karl stepped around Ethan on the ground to get to you. His
hand came to rest on your cheek, his thumb brushing over your cheekbone.

“Come on, where is that fire from before? You and me, remember? Doing everything it takes to
take Miranda down.”

You smiled weakly and nodded. “You and me.”

Another promise that got sealed with a kiss.

 The Game Begins

“Oh, Mother Miranda!” Karl sing-songed over dramatically as he entered the church, dragging
Ethan behind him. “We have a gift for you!”

You stepped in afterwards, looking over to where Miranda was standing. The priestess had tilted
her head in interest as she obviously recognized Ethan.

Lady Dimitrescu just scoffed. “Please, a foolish man-thing isn’t impressive, why are you wasting
our time?”

Mother Miranda stepped closer to Karl, lifting a hand in Alcina's direction to shut her off before
she could say more. The Lady's face twisted in first hurt and then anger, but she remained silent and
obedient.

“Well, if that isn’t Ethan Winters.” Miranda grinned darkly behind her mask.

“The father?!” Angie chimed in, jumping off Donnas lap and running towards the man on the
ground, but was harshly stopped by Karls boot.

Miranda ignored the interaction entirely, nodding to Karl to tie the chain down to the ground. This
time he used his powers to do so, securing him efficiently.

“Interesting. I was sure he wouldn’t survive.”

Karl let himself fall onto his pew, stretching himself out and motioning for you to join him, but you
instead went behind him. Your muscles were spasming with their need to be used, too nervous to sit
down just yet, so you remained standing.

Moreau pushed himself past you, giving you a thankful smile as you moved out of the way. He
waddled over to Ethan, both him and Angie studying him with interest.

“Mother Miranda, what do you want to do with him?” Lady Dimitrescu asked, lighting one of her
long cigarettes.

Karl mirrored her, pulling out one of his cigars. “I’m guessing you’ll stick him into the cell with his
wife.”

But Miranda shook her head. “No. That man killed Eveline, I will not let a threat like him disturb
my plan. It’s bad enough that Umbrella is after me.”

Alcina jumped at the opportunity without hesitation. “I’d like to take him then! I’ll use his unique
blood to make some of my best wine yet!”

“Hold the fuck on!” Karl snarled. “I’m the one who captured him! If anyone gets to kill him, it
should be me!”

Your eyes wandered around the room, noticing a few Lycans scanning the scene from up above. It
wasn’t surprising, Heisenberg and Lady Dimitrescu's fights were always entertaining. Mother
Miranda said nothing yet, so Lady Dimitrescu retaliated.
“The man is of no real use to anyone else. And my daughters do so love…entertaining foreigners.”

You thought you heard some quiet grunts from somewhere, but ignored them, concentrating on the
battle of arguments, as Lady Dimitrescu wasn’t done making her point.

“Furthermore, I can assure you if you entrust the mortal to House Dimitrescu, my daughters and I
will deliver you the finest cups of his slaughtered blood.”

You got distracted as another little fight broke loose, this time between Angie and Moreau. The doll
pushed him away harshly.

“Out of the way ugly, I wanna see – Oh!”

As Moreau stepped away, you finally realized what they were so excited about. Ethan had begun to
wake up.

Karl tried to argue back but was steadily interrupted by both Moreau and Angie.

“You mean – Y-You mean…?”

“He’s awake!” Angie trilled loudly and combined with Moreau's little giggles, Karl had enough.

“Both of you, shut the fuck up!” He yelled at them, watching Angie run off back to her mistress,
chest heaving with rage.

Ethan's head lulled to the side a little. “What…where?”

Karl ignored his whines for answers. “You mean you’ll screw around with him in private, and
where’s the fun in that?”

He addressed Mother Miranda directly. “Give him to me, and I’ll put on a show that everybody can
enjoy.”

“Oh, so gauche.” Alcina scoffed, starting to get agitated. “What do we care for bread and circuses,
the man-things suffering is assured regardless.”

Karl loved the way he was pissing her off. “Yack, Yack! If a man’s dick is cut off in a castle, blah,
blah blah!”

He chuckled, turning his head towards Ethan and you didn’t need to see his eyes to know they were
shining with malicious intent. Ethan looked around the room, briefly locking eyes with you before
scanning the others. For that short whiled moment, your heart skipped a beat, as if he could identify
you as the one having dragged his real wife off to a lab.

Miranda finally spoke up. “I’ve heard all your arguments. Some of you were more persuasive than
others, but…I’ve made my decision.”

A long dramatic pause followed until Miranda pointed at Karl. “Heisenberg! The man's fate is in
your hands.”

And that, of course, set off Lady Dimitrescu, who jumped up from her chair and raised her voice.
“Mother Miranda, I must protest! Heisenberg is but a child and his devotion to you is
questionable.”
Karl had leaned back to enjoy the show, but his smile faded as she called him a child. You took a
step back as he too got to his feet, walking in front of the 9 foot tall Lady and between her and
Ethan.

Said Lady acted like he wasn’t there. “Give the mortal to me and I will ensure he is ready.”

You rolled your eyes at her performance, her act of defiance against Heisenberg only dragging this
meeting out further than it needs to be.

“Shut your damn hole!” Karl roared, his previously discarded hammer flying into his hand. “And
don’t be a sore loser! Go find your food somewhere else.”

“Quiet now, child. Adults are talking.” Of course she had to double down.

Karl gave her a challenging look. “I’m the child? You’re the one arguing with Mirandas decision!”

“You wouldn’t know responsibility if it was welded to that hammer!” She shot back, glaring down
at him with a vicious smile.

“Oh, keep growing, one day your head might actually fit your ego!” Heisenberg was squaring up
against her, ready to engage in the fight that Angie was calling for.

“Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“Hey, don’t I get a say in this?” Ethan protested weakly but definitely more awake. It reminded you
painfully of your own experience of the Lords fighting over you all those years ago.

You were about to step in to defend Karl when Mother Miranda unfurled her wings with a powerful
stroke.

“Silence!”

Alcina and Karl broke apart, still sending daggers with their eyes as Miranda ended their fight.

“My decision is final, there will be no more argument. Remember from whence you came!”

You wanted to roll your eyes so hard it almost hurt to hold it back. As if anyone could forget who
had done all of this to them. The Lycans started to growl and jap, getting worked up over Miranda's
power and excited to see what would happen next.

Karl smirked and did a little head bow towards Miranda. “Thank you.”

Lady Dimitrescu turned her nose up but quietly went over to Donnas side. Karl swung his hammer
and spun in place for a few dramatic twirls. You noticed Ethan flinch a little as the head of the huge
weapon nearly graced him.

“Lycans and gentleman, we thank you for waiting! And now let the games begin!”

Karl crouched down to Ethan's level and since you’re the only one still close enough, only you
heard his next uttered words.

“Let’s see what you’re really made of, Ethan Winters.”

As Karl straightened up again, he ordered Ethan to get ready, the other man's eyes widening
impossibly wide as Heisenberg lifted his hammer above his head, ready to strike down.

Ethan held his hands up in a panic. “No! Wait!”

Heisenberg swung his hammer down to the ground between Ethan's legs and broke the metal piece
that was holding down the chain to Ethan's handcuffs.

As Karl started to count down, the Lycans drew in closer and closer, snarling and snapping at the
poor man that looked around for an escape route. Once more, your eyes locked but you adverted
your gaze in shame.

Ethan stumbled off towards the hole on the ground that led to Karls cave system. Or play area,
more accurately. Just as Karl ended his countdown, Ethan jumped in, sealing his fate.

“Showtime!” Karl laughed, a TV flying up to his face so he could watch the struggle through all his
cameras he had down there. “That’s right, run for your life!”

Slowly, you approached Heisenberg and took your place at his side, looking at the footage of the
young father running off into the depts of the caves. The roars of the Lycans followed him and he
barely avoided the first one, breaking down an old barrier and running down and across the stone
bridge.

“Very nice, Ethan!” Karl mocked him through the speakers, his predatory grin widening when
Ethan ran towards the light at the end, just like everyone else had before him. Karl was leading him
on, as if there was any chance for Ethan to survive his game.

Urias jumped down and right in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks and Ethan nearly
stumbled off the edge. The Lycan leader didn’t give him time to recover however, hitting him with
his huge hammer like he wanted to play baseball with him, sending Ethan flying back across the
bridge.

Ethan remained motionless for a beat and that was all Urias needed to drag him closer again, lifting
his hammer once more. When it struck down, you flinched back from the screen as you were sure
Urias had hit the man, but instead, he sent him off down a slide of rocks and deeper into the
tunnels.

Karl's throaty laugh ringed in your ears as Ethan slammed down on the ground in the spike room. A
few Lycans had already gathered at the gates, their mouths dripping with saliva at the sight of him.

Heisenberg talked again, mocking him. “You’re still alive? Impressive…”

Ethan rolled onto his back, his lips moving like he was saying something to himself as he watched
the spikes at the ceiling starting to lower themselves down. But he wasn’t giving up, getting back
on his feet and running towards another old fence, kicking it in before crawling through it.

Karl hit the button to speak again, laughing. “My word, you truly are as strong as they say!”

A wide, sadistic grin spread over Karl's face, enough to even scare you, as Ethan jumped down into
the last part of the trap. He was running at the light again when the roll covered in spikes dropped
down right in front of him, nearly hitting its target.
“Oh, you didn’t think I’d let you get away, did you?” He mocked as Ethan ran towards the other
side of the room, panic clear in his eyes even through the cameras. “Gotta keep Donna and Moreau
entertained!”

“So, now it’s time for the beautiful, blood-soaked grand finale!” Karl drew closer to the screen,
wanting to see every little detail of what was happening.

Ethan was backed into a corner and there was nothing more for him to do as the spikes finally hit
him, his scream of terror causing you to look away as Karl released his final mockery.

“Nothing like fresh American ground beef!”

The camera turned itself off as Karl doubled over in manic laughter. “Did you see that, Y/N?! His
fucking face at the end!”

You pressed your lips into a thin line, nodding without verbal comment. Part of you always
rationalized this side of him as a show, a necessary evil he had to portray in order for Miranda to
buy into his devotion to her. But you also knew that this dark side of Karl Heisenberg came also
fully intentional to him. He relished in having power over someone else's life, since he didn’t have
much control over his own thanks to Mother Miranda.

Hell, Miranda had to remind him not to kill you at the beginning, so what did you expect? That was
a side of him that you still feared, even if you weren’t subjected to it anymore and were only
witnessing it.

Mother Miranda cleared her throat. “Well done, Heisenberg. What a nice show.”

Karl still had his back to her and used that to roll his eyes without her knowing. Of course she had
to interrupt his rush.

Lady Dimitrescu had left sometime during the game, which explained why Karl only referred to
Donna and Moreau being in need of entertainment.

Mother Miranda sighed and relaxed. “Now. I still have many things to prepare for the ceremony
later today. You are free to leave and go after your affairs as per usual but be ready for when I call
on you to bring me your flasks.”

She turned, only to pause, remembering something. “And Y/N? Your duty to look after Mia
Winters is done, I’ll be taking over now. I am very pleased with you.”

You nodded and despite everything, felt relief. At least you didn’t have to interact with Mia
anymore, you weren’t sure if you could keep what happened to her family a secret when faced with
her. Miranda disappeared into the darkness, probably off to her lab. Angie lifted her hand up to take
Donnas, walking alongside her for once than be carried by her, and the picture looked kind of cute.

Karl was busy putting the TV back from wherever he had pulled it from when Moreau approached
you with a wide smile.

“Y/N, can I ask for your opinion on something?”

You forced a smile, his earlier look of curiosity still lingering in your mind. “Sure Moreau, what is
it?”
“I want to put my flask down at the bottom of the reservoir, so only I can get it. You think that’ll
make Mama happy?” He explained, awaiting your answer eagerly.

You bit your tongue to not explode in his face, staying calm and shaking your head. “T-The idea is
great, but I’m not sure if Mother Miranda appreciates it if her flask is getting damaged by the
currents down there, or the other creatures that live there.”

Also, you really, really didn’t want any part of Rose being sunk into that disgusting, filthy water.
Moreau hummed in gratitude for you pointing that out.

“So, where do you think I should put it?”

You thought for a moment before making your suggestion. “How about your room in the mines?
You can secure the entrance with some of your slime, and you spent most of your time there
anyway, perfect for protecting it.”

“Oh, what a great idea! I will make mommy proud!” Moreau did his best of a jump of joy, rushing
closer with open arms as he wanted to hug you. You wouldn’t have had the time to stop it yourself,
you really weren’t interested in Moreau's friendliness after everything today.

Karls hammer hit his chest, making the Lord stumble and fall on his back, the massive head of
Karls weapon pressing down on his chest. Moreau was wheezing with pain, struggling against
Heisenberg's hold over him.

“Who the fuck do you think you are, trying to touch my lapdog?!” Karl seethed, forcing his
hammer down harder.

You thought you heard something crack in Moreau's chest and that’s when you stepped in, if only
reluctantly. “Karl, stop it!”

His head snapped towards you, eyes glaring at you through his glasses as he stepped away and
pulled the hammer off. Moreau took a big gulp of air, coughing and struggling to roll over to his
stomach to get up to his feet again. You couldn’t bring yourself to help him, your view on him as
the kind Lord of the village starting to crack ever since he took his Rose flask.

“Y/N, we’re leaving.” Karl growled, turning on his heel to walk off.

You followed him, glancing back at the hunchback only once and making eye contact. There was
hurt in his and you couldn’t bear it a moment longer, speeding up to get out as fast as possible. You
had enough guilt building up inside you, you didn’t need more because of Moreau.

Once back outside, Karl heaved a last little chuckle. “God damn it, I really needed all that.”

“I saw.” You sighed, rubbing your temples. “God, I’m exhausted.”

Karl tutted and started guiding you through the village with his free hand on your lower back. “No
time for rest, sweetheart. Got a couple of hours left to prepare before we grind Miranda like a bug.”

“And what is it that you want to do?” You asked him, stretching your arms above your head to
release some tension in your muscles. “The army is pretty much ready.”

Karl wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, tongue darting out to lick his lips. “Well, first I want to
fuck your brain out and then reassemble it for the fight.”
A half laugh, half gasp sound left your mouth. “Sex? Right now?”

Karl shrugged, ushering you across the bridge to the factory. “Why not? We could both use a good
fuck before we get to the real work.”

Honestly, you weren’t really in the mood for sex right now and wondered how Karl was after he
just killed a man and humiliated another. But Karl had a talent for getting you lost in pleasure for so
long and with such an intensity that you forgot the world around you. And that sounded exactly like
what you needed right now.

“Alright, Casanova.” You purred, the doors to the factory sliding open for you to enter. “Let’s see
what you’re really made of.”

You headed straight for your room, already grabbing the hem of your shirt to pull it over your head
as you entered. You were heading towards the bed, but Karl had other plans, grabbing your hips
and roughly bending you down over one of his worktables. His hammer discarded carelessly to the
floor.

He started grinding against your backside, leaning close to your ear. “Get comfortable, pet. We’ll
spend some last quality time here.”

You relaxed against the hard surface, stretching your arms up to grab the edge of the table as Karl
started to undo your pants, letting them drop to the floor before grabbing the waistband of your
underwear. His movements were slow and deliberate as he removed the last piece of fabric that hid
your arousal from him and you closed your eyes to savour the sharp intake of air from Karl as he
uncovered your glistering sex.

There was something highly erotic about being so bare for Karl when he was still fully dressed.
You heard some rustling as Karl got down to his knees, his face at the same height as your hips. A
startled moan escaped you when he placed a bite on your butt, hard enough to bruise but gentle
enough to not draw blood.

His warm breath ghosted over your folds and you spread your legs for him, ready to be devoured.
 The Bat Lord
Chapter Notes

Hey guys! Hope you're all doing well! I wanted to thank each and everyone of you once more
for reading and enjoying the story! I'm still struggling to respond to as many comments as I'd
like to, but I read every single one!
As a side note, I will try and find the time to go through the old chapters and clean up the
many grammatical errors in them.

Two hours later

You were losing your damn mind, or maybe you already had, it was hard to tell really. You laid on
your back, still on the same table Karl had bend you over, your legs wrapped around his hips as he
thrusted into your willing body.

Your neck was covered in bruises and love bites, your breasts tinged red with both arousal and from
Karl handling them roughly. As you had anticipated, your mind was in a foggy haze, drowning in
pleasure and having no intention to stop any time soon. Why re-enter a world full of pain?

While you had orgasmed like five times already, Karl was edging himself and hadn’t surged once.
It wasn’t his usual route for the kind of mood he was in, but you let him enjoy his self-punishment
for as long as he wanted. The desperate shaking of his legs was a nice add on you thought.

Your spit-slick lips slid against each other in a clumsy kiss, your hands fisted in Karl's hair as the
phone on the wall above you rang.

Karl's hips faltered slightly and he heaved a groan before an idea came to him. He made sure you
were looking directly into his eyes as he gave you an order.

“Go on, pet. It’s rude to let the phone ring, isn’t it?”

In your messed up mind, the danger in his order didn’t even register and you shakily reached up to
the receiver. Karl started thrusting again as you put the phone to your ear.

“H-Heisenberg’s factory?”

There was a pause before the voice of Mother Miranda hit you. “Am I interrupting something,
Y/N?”

You swallowed, fear and pleasure mixing in the pit of your stomach. “Not-Not at all, M-Mother
Miranda. Just…ran up here quickly, a l-little out of breath now.”

Karl gave a low grumbling sound as you said Miranda's name, his hips twitching and never
stopping their thrusts. It obviously turned him on that he was fucking you while you talked to the
bitch, making sure to let his own noises be quiet enough to not be heard through the line. Even in
his state of arousal, he didn’t want to push his luck too far.
“I see.” Miranda clicked her tongue and then sighed. You didn’t really care if she believed you or
not, at least not in this state.

“I just wanted to inform Heisenberg and you that I received a call from Lady Dimitrescu.” Mother
Miranda said.

You rolled your eyes as best you could, forcing your voice to be as calm as you could manage. “W-
Whatever she’s m-mad about, we apologize.”

“Ethan Winters is still alive.” Mother Miranda told you, her voice stern. “And apparently he’s been
wreaking havoc in her castle, not even her daughters have been able to keep him at bay.”

Karl hit your G-Spot and you cursed. “Oh fuck!”

You gathered yourself and played it off. “W-We’re so sorry a-about that!”

Miranda hummed annoyedly. “As you should be. This is too important to me for you two to mess
this up! I am very disappointed in you.”

A twinge of fear split through your hazy mind, but it was hard to register as Karls thrusts sped up
even more. You felt his length twitching inside you and knew he was about to come and with the
amount of edging he’d done, he would be loud while doing so.

“I-I’ll make sure to t-tell Lord Heisenberg! W-We’ll fix this!” And you slammed the receiver down
hard before Miranda could say more, hoping she was too focused on reaching her goal to care
about it. Maybe she’d also think you hung up in a hurry to get to the whole “fix the situation” part.

Karl doubled over, his mouth biting down hard on your neck as he came with a scream of ecstasy,
his whole body spasming with the force of it. It ripped your last orgasm from the depths of your
spine, your head slamming back against the table.

Heisenberg slumped against you, going completely limp on top of you as you both tried to catch
your breath.

“Holy shit.” You laughed exhaustedly, your nails scratching over Karls back. “That was really
dangerous.”

Karl chuckled against the skin of your neck, placing a kiss there. “But fuck, that felt good.”

The blatant disrespect to Mother Miranda had added another kind of thrill to it, you had to admit.
Karl lifted his head up, exhaling with annoyance as he had to get back to what was going on.

“What did she want anyway?”

Suddenly, you froze. Her message didn’t quite reach you before, mind too blissed out for you to
register what was happening.

“Karl, Ethan didn’t die in your trap.”

He frowned down at you. “What are you talking about, of course he’s dead. No one survived the
thing before.”
“But Mother Miranda said Ethan was at castle Dimitrescu, giving your sister a hard time.” You
explained further. “And Miranda isn’t happy with us about it.”

Karl rolled his eyes. “Who cares, the big bitch will kill him and then the problem is solved.”

You worried your bottom lip between your teeth. Ethan, so far, had survived his hand getting cut
off, a mind-controlled mold family, a psychotic bioweapon disguised as a child, the harsh
Romanian cold, the Lycan raid and Karl’s trap. Was it really so unreasonable to think he’d survive
the castle too?

Although, if he has been messing with Lady Dimitrescu's daughters, or worse hurt them, there
would be nothing to protect him from her motherly rage. But the bad feeling didn’t leave you alone.
Maybe you should go see for yourself?

“Karl, I told Miranda we’d fix this. If she gets even more mad at us, she might retaliate and come to
the factory.”

Karl knew exactly what you were getting at. “You want to go to the castle? Alcina will hunt us
down for not killing Ethan before, not really in the mood for it.”

“Do you think I am?” You asked sarcastically, combing some of his hair back with your fingers.
“Look, maybe Alcina killed him already by the time we get there. Just making sure nothing gets
thrown in our way.”

Karl sighed in defeat. “Fine. If you really think that’s necessary, we can go check.”

You leaned up to kiss him passionately. “Thank you.”

Carefully, Karl pulled out and discarded the rubber off to the floor, not caring. You hissed a little
when you sat up, your lower body complaining after being used so much.

Karl grinned smugly, clearly proud of himself. “Sure you can even walk?”

“Let’s fucking hope so, can’t fight a bitch if I can’t use my legs.” You joked, slowly sliding to the
edge of the table before getting to your feet again.

You were a bit wobbly still, but it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. Karl already started to
gather his clothes, watching you intently as you bend down to get your underwear and pants. His
look was all heat and fire, a longing and fondness shining through them too. You loved it when he
looked at you like you meant the world to him, even more in dire times like these.

The thought that in a few hours, if everything went well, he and you would be free to live your
lives like you wanted to brought a smile to your lips. It was a little faint, the pain of knowing that it
might also end in death deeply scarring you. You pushed the thought aside, determent to stay
positive.

After Karl and you were ready, you walked out and towards the front doors, sun rays shining in as
they slid open. It might have been beautiful, if it wasn’t for the terrifying roar you heard some
distance away.

Karl and you exchanged a look, sprinting outside to see what was going on. You nearly tumbled
over at the sight that greeted you as you looked at the castle. A huge dragon-like monster was
flying across the sky, slamming down and into the towers of the castle, obviously fighting
something. You weren’t sure, but it looked like something was riding it as well, the roars of rage
ringing in your ears along with the faint sounds of gunshots being fired.

“What the fuck is that?!” You finally asked.

Karl reached up and removed his glasses, mouth dropping open a little. “Holy fuck, that’s Alcina.”

You stared at him for a long time, sure he was kidding, but the seriousness on his face couldn’t be
played off.

“What do you mean that’s Alcina!?” You panicked, still not able to fully comprehend this.

Lady Dimitrescu, while powerful and scary, was beautiful. A noblewoman of quality, with an ego
as big as her body. You couldn’t believe that she had turned into that thing, currently chasing
someone.

Karl fletched his teeth as a large piece of metal flew over. “That’s her mutated form. I’ve only ever
seen her set lose like this once before and it wasn’t pretty.”

You two stepped onto the plate, being lifted into the air by Karls powers. Just as you got close
enough to see the figure of a man run inside one of the tower tops, the huge beast disappeared
inside as well, chasing the man. Although you didn’t dare say it, you knew it was Ethan. There
were more gunshots and then a loud crash and you saw the tail of Alcina disappear inside. Karl
landed the metal plate just outside the top of the tower the two had disappeared into.

“Curse you!” You heard Lady Dimitrescu yell followed by a scream of anger, her voice distorted
and riddled with pain.

You didn’t wait for Karl, running off and inside through the big gap of destroyed wall and only so
catching yourself before falling into the hole the two must’ve fallen down to. Dread closed up your
throat as quietness overtook the scene and slowly, you looked down. You saw Ethan bend down
and pick something up, something big and shiny, vaguely human-shaped.

“You’re the one who’s cursed.” Ethan muttered to himself, not knowing he had eyes on him.

Karl had made it to your side, looking down at the scene below as Ethan walked to a stone table
that was mounted into the wall. On top, coincidentally, was Lady Dimitrescu's Rose flask and
Ethan took it, looking it over and obviously not knowing what it was, but taking it with him
regardless. As he lifted the flask, the stone table sunk into the floor, revealing a door behind it that
opened for him. Ethan ran outside, leaving the scene of his destruction.

The metal plate floated over to where you two were standing and you stepped onto it without a
thought, grabbing Karls arm as he lowered you both down to where Lady Dimitrescu's lifeless body
remained.

Ethan was long gone as Karl and you stared at the crystallized monstrosity that used to be the first
Lord. So many feelings were rushing over you, creating a mix you never felt before.

Fear; Because how the fuck has a mere man killed Lady Dimitrescu?! How had he even survived
this long in her castle, with Bela, Cassandra and Daniela hunting him down, presumably with their
Mother close by as well?
Then sadness; Lady Dimitrescu was by no means a true friend to you. But you shared a mutual
respect for one another, both admiring and realizing the others strengths and abilities. You had
gotten to know her motherly side, saw how much love was still in her, even if she served Mother
Miranda with mostly happiness.

Confusion; Because that dragon-mutation must’ve been her most powerful form, and yet she was
defeated. Did all Lords have mutations like her?

And a twinge of relief; Because that was neither Karl nor you that laid dead on the ground. But
along with it came also a bit of guilt, as Alcina would still be alive if Karl’s trap had killed Ethan.

Karl bend down and carefully touched the body, as if to make sure it was real after all. And then he
laughed.

“Not bad, Winters! Killed the big bitch just like that!”

Your jaw dropped open, every other emotion replaced by anger. “Are you fucking serious, Karl?!”

Karl turned his head and raised an eyebrow. “What? One less problem to deal with later on.”

While it was a true statement in of itself, you couldn’t believe that even after seeing all this he
could mock his fellow Lords death like that. “I know, but she deserved a better fate than that! W-
What do we even tell the girls-…”

You trailed off, realization washing over you. “Karl, the girls!”

He rolled his eyes. “What about those blood-suckers?”

“Where are they?! Miranda said they couldn’t handle Ethan, what if they are hurt?” You panicked,
turning in place to find a way back to the main castle.

Karl straightened up and grabbed you by both of your shoulders, holding you still. “What does it
matter?! They tried to eat you on multiple occasions, why do you want to help them?”

Because you weren’t as heartless as Karl after all. Even after fighting with yourself for so long, you
still had sympathy left for the other innocent people that had been dragged into this mess. Yes,
some were more willing than others to help and serve Miranda, but in the end, everyone was forced
into this. You couldn’t find the words to properly communicate that with Karl, so you settled on a
pleading look instead.

Karl didn’t give a single damn about his so-called siblings, or their associates, much less about if
and how they die. He felt no pain, no guilt or sorrow for seeing Alcina getting killed. The only
person he cared for and wanted to protect, was you. And you knew that only because of that did he
eventually agree to help you look for the girls.

Using the metal plate once more, Heisenberg and you were travelling back up the tower and then
back down to the front door of the castle, stepping off and pushing open the doors. The castle was
unusually quiet, which was already a sign that something wasn’t right.

Your steps haled in the halls and rooms of the castle as you crossed through them, Karl’s voice
booming around you.

“Bela! Cassandra! Daniela! Uncle Heisenberg is here!”

And nothing happened, which was unsettling you even more. If they weren’t hurt, they’d have
come to hunt you by now, especially because Karl was in their home. In your head, you still had a
little bit of hope left, but you also dreaded having to tell them what happened to their mother if that
hope was placed right.

Karl exhaled loudly. “Well, doesn’t look like they’re home.”

You scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest. “Not home? You want to tell me they somehow
decided that the cold outside was more inviting than their home?”

“Stop that smart mouth of yours before you regret it.” Karl snarled, walking towards the stairs that
you remembered led up to the library. “The library is gate-locked, so if they ran off to hide, I’m
sure they’d come here.”

As you reached the top, you saw that the door was slightly ajar, the gate not there anymore. A cold
wind blew through the gap and hit your faces. Karl pushed it open without hesitation, stepping up
to the middle and then stopping and tilting his head.

“Well, looks like we found someone.”

You approached slowly, afraid of what you’d see and being fully right to be. The glass dome above
was opened all the way, the cold sweeping in and having already created a thin layer of snow on the
wooden floor. And in midst of the snow, was another crystallized body.

“Fuck!” You cursed, crouching down and touching the cold remains. “Who was it?”

Karl clicked his tongue. “Can’t tell. I’m sure it’s one of the three though, can’t say which one.”

You slowly pushed the crystal shards around, trying to look for a clue and finally finding a green
pendant. You held it to your chest and sighed, closing your eyes.

“It’s Daniela.”

Karl remained silent for a moment, contemplating but eventually speaking his mind. “If the
youngest is dead, along with Alcina, it’s a safe bet the other two are dead as well.”

You nodded, already figured as much. “We have to tell Mother Miranda. If we don’t and she finds
out on her own, she’ll get even more suspicious of us.”

“You’re right.” Karl agreed, if only reluctantly. “You eh…you okay?”

There was the glimpse of the Karl you had fallen in love with. You hadn’t seen much of it today,
which was understandable given the amount of pressure on him, but you were grateful to see it
now.

“I don’t know.” You answered, voice barely audible.

Karl crouched down next to you, putting his arms around you and pulling you to his chest. “I still
don’t get why their death upsets you so much, but I want to make you feel better. What can I do?”

You leaned your head against his and sighed. “Could you help me find the other two? I want to take
their pendants and put them next to Alcina’s body.”
“Yeah, sure.” He answered, kissing your cheek before straightening up and holding his hand out to
you. “But we have to hurry.”

You two eventually found Bela in a room just past the dungeons, a window with shattered glass
telling you how Ethan had killed her. You took her red pendant with you.

Cassandra, you found in the hidden armoury of the castle, a huge chunk of the wall missing. You
took her yellow pendant and brought them all back to Lady Dimitrescu.

Karl said nothing as you put the three pendants down next to her enormous body, gently pulling the
arm that wasn’t broken forth and settling it over the colourful stones, as if she was still protecting
them even in death.

There wasn’t anything else you could do to honour their deaths and you felt a little better for at
least doing this.

Now, Karl and you were floating through the air in heavy silence, landing back at the entrance to
the cave church and walking inside. Mother Miranda sat on her throne, a little table pulled in front
of her as she was scribbling down some notes. She looked up when she heard your footsteps,
looking at you expectingly.

You lowered your gaze in shame. “I’m sorry Mother Miranda. Ethan Winters has killed Lady
Dimitrescu and her daughters.”

Miranda paused, then asked. “And her Rose flask?”

Your left eyebrow twitched in irritation as she didn’t even bat an eye at the death of her supposed
daughter and grandchildren.

Karl took over that part. “He took it. We were too late.”

The throne screeched as it was pushed back, Miranda getting up and walking around the table and
towards you. Before you could prepare yourself for it, she slapped you across the face.

Karl was about to protest when he too got slapped, harder though, enough for his sunglasses to get
knocked off. They fell to the floor, luckily not breaking.

You gingerly rubbed your burning cheek while Karl just looked to the side, clenching his hands into
fists and setting his jaw.

“How could you let that happen?!” Mother Miranda yelled at you, outraged. “After everything I’ve
done for the two of you, you can’t even take care of a mere human!?”

There wasn’t anything to say, so Karl and you remained silent, watching her step away and back to
her throne. She took a few deep breaths before addressing you once more.

“You two are lucky I am preoccupied with the ceremony right now. But I promise you, your failure
will have consequences.”
 The Weaver

Karl was dangerously quiet when you left the church again. You had picked up his sunglasses for
him but didn’t yet hand them over because you knew he’d crush them in his hand in his blind anger.
Your face was still burning slightly, the skin having adapted a light handprint, and you laid your
cool hand over it to soothe the sting.

You were still quiet when you reached the altar again, a few Lycans scattered about watching
warily. One of them had tried to run past you to leave the scene, probably sensing the danger in
Heisenberg’s mood, but unfortunately meet its end by getting smashed by Karl’s hammer.

You gagged as blood splattered across the floor, a few sprinkles hitting your face. The other Lycans
scrambled away in fear, one slipping in his hurry to do so and panicking, but eventually escaping
the scene too.

Karl still didn’t say anything, but he had turned to you when he heard you gag, looking at the blood
on your face apologetically. He carefully reached up, hand shaking with tension, and wiping the
dark liquid away with his gloved thumb. The blood stained the leather a little. His hand lingered on
your cheek, placed above the handprint, as if to hide it.

You grabbed his wrist with one hand, pressing his hand harder against your skin with your other,
not wanting him to leave. You wanted to feel his hand on your skin and forget Miranda’s.

“Karl, please say something.”

Karl’s jaw was still set, but he relaxed the muscles now. “What do you want me to say? That I’ll cut
her hand off that dared to slap you? That I promise to stay calm?”

You let go of his arm in favour of pulling him into a hug, hiding your teary eyes from his sight.
“That we’ll be okay.”

His arms held you tightly, his chest deflating with a sigh. “Of course we’ll be, sweetheart. You
heard her, she’s too busy to come after us right now. And even if she did, I won’t let her hurt you
again.”

“And what about you?” You pointed out quietly. “I don’t want you to get hurt by her anymore.”

He waved your concerns away. “Don’t worry. As far as I’m concerned, Ethan isn’t our problem
anymore. Who knows where he’s gone off to anyway, so she can’t expect us to hunt him down.”

You pulled yourself together, sniffling against the fabric of his coat before pulling away to look at
him. “Just stay with me, okay?”

He smirked, leaning down to place a quick kiss on your lips. “Never planned to leave.”

The sentence made you smile, some of his tension leaving as you smiled at each other, until
someone cleared their throat.

“So sorry to interrupt this moment, but I may have some information for you that could be of
interest.”
You both turned your heads at the Duke, neither of you having realized he’d opened his shop here.
You blushed a little, because Karl and you were never affectionate together when someone else
could see. You were glad that of all the people that could’ve seen, it was the kind merchant.

“What do you want, Duke?” Karl asked annoyedly.

“I have met quite the interesting fellow, who had quickly become one of my favourite customers,
by the name of Ethan Winters.” The Duke explained, clearly amused when your interest was
piqued.

Karl pursed his lips impatiently. “Well, are you going to tell us whatever it is you want to say, or do
you expect us to figure it out ourselves!?”

The other man laughed. “Oh, Lord Heisenberg, how much I enjoy your jokes.”

Karl was about to point out he wasn’t joking, when the merchant finally revealed what he wanted to
say.

“Mr. Winters had asked me to explain what the Rose flasks were and it seems he is now at the
Beneviento estate, visiting the dollmaker herself.”

A cold shiver crept down your skin, a twinge of betrayal hitting you, but it was short-lived. The
Duke was a neutral presence in the village. He’s selling his goods and helps along whoever came to
visit his shop, not caring who the person was. He had no affiliation with Karl and you, so you
shouldn’t feel betrayed by him helping Ethan.

Karl shrugged. “Good then, the psycho doll will take care of him.”

You looked back at Karl with a gasp. “How can you say that? Ethan killed Alcina, how could
Donna possibly defeat him?!”

He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Look, as much as she wanted you to think she was, vampire bitch
wasn’t as powerful as she looked like. Hell, sometimes I’d even call her the second weakest Lord
right after Moreau! Donna’s power is way more useful than Alcina’s claws, so I wouldn’t put it past
her to end Ethan.”

That was perhaps the nicest thing he ever said about one of his fellow Lords. You had to agree that
Donna was stronger than one might assume from her demeanour, and she was very protective over
her house and her dolls, not to mention her horrific hallucinations. If Ethan really did go to her
estate, he was bound to have a bad time. In the end, Karl knew her for far longer than you did, so
his opinion had to be taken seriously. You relaxed a little.

“Alright, if you really think so.”

Karl nodded towards the factory. “Come on, let’s get back home.”

You nodded, waving at the Duke as a goodbye before turning to leave with Karl. You noticed
uncomfortably that the head of his hammer was still dripping with blood and you pleaded with him
to either leave it outside, or drag it around on the ground to get at least most of it off.

Karl did as you asked, grumbling about it though. “Can’t believe you still get nervous when you
see blood.”
You rolled your eyes. “It’s not that, dumbass. It’s just gross and Lycan blood smells weird.”

Karl tilted his head, turning his hammer up to sniff at the big head. “Don’t see the big deal.”

You grimaced uncomfortably. “Ew, did you have to do that?”

He barked a laugh, putting his hammer back down and leaning against the handle. “What’s the
issue, buttercup? You’ve smelled far worse things than that in my factory.”

A sly smirk pulled at your lips as you couldn’t hold back at that. “You mean like yourself?”

“Ouch!” Karl dramatically fisted his hand into his shirt, right above his heart. “That hurt!”

The playful teasing was direly needed, a short break from the stress and fear the day was filled
with. Once Karl had cleaned the hammer of the blood, you allowed him to take it inside. The
darkness of the factory provided a sense of calm and protection to you, something you appreciated
very much. You walked off towards the workstation, Karl pulling the dirty rag that covered the wall
to the side to reveal his board behind it. The pictures of his family were new ones, alongside them
various pictures showing different states of the Cadou and then the three most prominent pictures;
One of little Rose, one of Mia Winters with Rose in her arms, and one of Chris Redfield. You had
taken those pictures when you were in Miranda’s lab some time ago, the pictures being from before
Miranda replaced Mia.

Karl rummaged through some boxes until he found a red marker, drawing a big cross over the
picture of Alcina. “Now, one down, two more possible threats aside from the main bitch.”

You wanted to point out that technically there were three threats, Ethan Winters being one, but you
didn’t want to question Karls sureness that Donna will handle him. Maybe you’re just being overly
cautious, maybe Donna really was able to take care of Ethan.

“Now, let’s see how we want to do this.” Karl mused, studying Miranda’s picture. “We sure as hell
can’t wait until Miranda is ready to do the ceremony.”

“Nope, would be too late.” You agreed, biting your bottom lip worriedly. “What if we station the
Soldats at the ceremony site?”

Karl hummed, acknowledging your idea but shaking his head. “No telling when Miranda will be
ready to perform the ceremony, if we station them already, she might catch on before we have a
chance to engage.”

“Then you want to ambush her?” You assumed, studying the town's map. “But as long as she’s
couped up in the church, we can’t. The Soldats are too unpredictable to work efficiently in such a
small space.”

“Not to mention Sturm down there.” Karl chuckled, the creation’s engine roaring from downstairs
as if he had heard his name. “Although he could tear some walls down for us.”

You took a deep breath, asking the question that bothered you most. “What should I do?”

Karl raised a confused eyebrow at you. “What do you mean? Have you forgotten that cloud of
yours and what you can do?”
No, you haven’t forgotten, how even could you? But you still felt weak and almost useless. Karl
playfully poked the tip of your nose.

“Y/N, come on! You can blast her with lightning, could freeze her to death with snow, or maybe
you manage to drown the bitch! Not to mention you can confuse the fuck out of her with all the
clouds you could create.”

A faint smile crossed your features as you shyly looked at him. “You really think I’m that
powerful?”

“I’m surprised you don’t.” Karl smiled honestly, reaching inside his coat pocket and cursing.
“Damn it, no cigars left. I’m gonna look if the Duke is in the elevator real quick.”

You nodded, focusing back on the board on the wall as Karl left the room to go look for the
merchant. It was only about half an hour ago that you saw the Duke at the altar, so there was a slim
chance the man was in the factory already. Then again, you sometimes felt like the Duke was
everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

You looked at the picture of Lady Dimitrescu for a long time, not knowing how to feel. You were
so deep in your thoughts that you hadn’t heard Karl return about five minutes later, sneaking in.

He screamed in a shrill and distorted voice, right next to you, making you jump and turn with a
start. Instead of Karl, you were faced with the porcelain face of Angie. Your heart was beating up to
your throat as Karl lost it, laughing loudly and swinging the doll around while doing so.

“That face was fucking priceless!” He mocked you, throwing the doll down at the table without a
care.

You stared at it for a long time before speaking up. “Karl, why do you have Angie?”

He was still giggling quietly, lighting one of his newly bought cigars. “Bought the thing from the
Duke! Apparently, I underestimated Ethan again.”

With dread you picked the doll up carefully. Even though you knew it was never truly alive and
was just controlled by Donna, you felt like there wasn’t any sort of spark left in her eyes.

“Donna is dead?”

Karl let the smoke leave his mouth slowly, letting it curl around his teeth as he displayed a
terrifying grin. “Most likely. No way in hell could Ethan take the doll otherwise, not to mention
Angie hasn’t said a damn thing since I bought her. God, I will not miss that thing.”

“Karl, please stop being so crude about it.” You begged, feeling near tears once again but refusing
to cry.

He went quiet, but took the red marker once more, stepping up and drawing a big cross across
Donna’s picture on the wall.

“Two out of three. Truly not bad, Winters.”

You knew he was mumbling that to himself, but it only added insult to injury. “Karl, could you
please just stop and consider how I feel right now?!”
The cuff on your wrist started to vibrate dangerously and you knew you had overstepped somehow.

He glared at you sharply. “You know what? No!”

You pressed Angie closer to your chest as Karl towered over you, a sneer on his lips. “I helped you
with Dimitrescu and her bitch daughters, because I wanted you to feel better. But I think you need
some sense knocked into you.”

He grabbed you tightly by your shoulders, leaning down so you had to look at his face. “You
decided to befriend them, knowing full well that they’d all be killed in the end. You’re breaking
yourself over their deaths and I can’t fucking help you cope with it anymore! You and me, you said
it yourself.”

You slowly nodded, setting your jaw and pulling away. “I know I did this to myself. But I can’t just
pretend that they were as evil as Miranda is! Donna was a child in a grown woman’s body, Alcina a
woman that just wanted to have a family! Why are you so mad because I have sympathy for them?”

Karl flared his arms around in frustration. “Because, if you feel bad for them, then how can I be
sure you won’t feel bad for her.”

He pointed at the picture of Mother Miranda and, oh wow, that fucking hurt. Your mouth dropped
open in a silent gasp.

“You…You can’t be serious.” You said, despite knowing better. “How could you even think that I’d
feel bad for that witch? After all she had done to me, after all she had done to you!”

Karl said nothing, turning his back to you and that made you mad. “You know what, fuck you.”

That had him turn around real fucking quick. “What did you just say to me?!”

You scoffed, pushing him away harshly. “No. I-I understand that you thought I’d back down from
the plan because I’m scared, even if it wasn’t true. But that you'd think for even a second, that I’d
join her side?! No, Karl, I need some space from you right now or I’m going to say something I’ll
regret.”

You walked past him and opened the door, about to step through when he grabbed your hand
tightly.

“Where are you going!?”

You shook his hand away. “I’m gonna bring Angie back to Donna, where she belongs.”

“Then I’m coming with you.” He growled, voice firm and strict but you didn’t care.

“No, you’re not.” You simply said, turning your head a little so he could see your eyes. “You really
fucking hurt me just now and I need to cool off alone somewhere.”

Karl obviously didn’t like it, but backed off. “Fine. But you get your ass back here in an hour or
I’m dragging you back.”

You rolled your eyes at him and left, holding Angie close to your chest. Once outside, you finally
cried, not stopping to walk though.
You told yourself that he was under massive pressure right now, that he was just scared and that he
didn’t actually mean what he said, but that didn’t help soothe the sting of hurt he left you with. You
would never betray him, had stayed at his side, helped him build and perfect his army, and that’s
how he repays you?

Why the hell would you ever join Miranda’s side?! You knew he thought of the other Lords as
enemies, and that eventually they’d either have to join you or fight you, and you prepared yourself
for that.

What you didn’t prepare for was a beast of a man killing one after the other! And Karl was mad
that you felt bad for how they met their end? The way he talked to you reminded you too much of
how he was when you first met him, and you dearly missed the Karl that opened to you and showed
you his soft side. Was he even still there?

You shook your head, trying to rid yourself of that question. Of course he was still there, Karl was
only acting like an ass because of what today is about. Yes, he’s still the man you fell in love with
and you refused to think otherwise.

As you approached the Beneviento estate, you had to build up your courage to actually enter, afraid
of what you’d see. The front doors were opened wide and you stepped inside slowly, looking at the
many dolls Donna had made for herself.

You were nervous about having to search the whole house for her body but found it just to the left
of the entryway, her crumbling remains laying in the hallway.

There was nothing left of her actual body, nor her clothes, just her being crystallized. You went
down to your knees next to Donna, laying Angie down over what you presumed was her stomach
and chest. Angie and Donna could never be separated, neither in life nor in death and you hated
Ethan for trying to do just that. You were quietly paying your respects to the second fallen Lord.

Hold on, the Lords! Suddenly it hit you just what exactly Ethan was doing; He was gathering the
four flasks of his daughter and had to go against the Lords to get them, because there was no way
one of them would just hand it over to him. And since Ethan wasn’t at the factory when you left,
and Donna was presumed dead for at least an hour now, it could only mean one thing:

Moreau was next.

 The Fish King
Chapter Notes

I just wanted to say, writing those chapters hurts like hell, but damn that TENSION!

Your lungs were wheezing with how out of breath you were, but you kept pushing on, refusing to
stop. Maybe, just maybe, if you were fast enough, you could warn Moreau about how powerful
Ethan was. Would he listen to your warning? You couldn’t tell, but you just had to try.

Moreau was somewhat of a best friend to you, the only one besides Heisenberg that you had talked
to so openly about whatever was going on. And although he had deeply disturbed you with how he
handled the Rose flask, you couldn’t just stand back and watch him get killed.

You ran past the Duke and right at the winged door that led to Moreau’s territory, pushing them
open with a heaving exhale. You took one step inside, only to stop dead in your tracks. Moreau had
slimed up this whole part of the village, but that in of itself wasn’t what scared you. It was the
crystallized body of a Varcolac that lay on the ground next to the creek.

Ever since two of these massive beats tried to take down Urias you had a certain respectful fear of
them and despite knowing Ethan had killed two Lords, that beast was still a surprise. For a
moment, you forgot why you had to hurry and looked around. The house closest to the gate had a
huge hole on the side and you saw the slumped body of a man, having found his final resting place
there. You thought you recognized him, but couldn’t be sure, not that it mattered right now.

You moved through the green water until you reached the passageway to the reservoir, hurrying
along the path and continuously looking out for Ethan. What if he saw you? Would he kill you too?
What if the fight with Karl was the last interaction you’d ever have with him?

No, you couldn’t let that happen. With determination, you went inside the windmill and down the
stone stairs and into the old wooden elevator. You bounced around impatiently as it descended,
hating how long you had to wait. Once it came to a halt in the mines, you rushed out, only to slip
on some slime on the ground. You were knocked off balance, falling to the ground and you yelped
in pain.

You straightened yourself up slowly, your Cadou making sure the pain was fading quickly. What
was going on? The whole mine was full of Moreau’s slime, even the way to his room was blocked,
and the gate to the reservoir was locked. He must be somewhere out there, you concluded, hitting
the lock with some lightning until the metal melted and dropped away. You knew this side of the
path would end in the water, as it was usually just Moreau’s escape route for when he needed to get
into the water fast, but you figured you could at least see where Moreau was from that vantage
point.

But when you stepped outside, the water was gone and there was the unmistakable sound of a huge
fight going on. You ran as fast as you could, looking over the scene that greeted you. A huge and
distorted monster stood on top of a roof, spewing acid and letting it rain down over the entire area.
You just about managed to shelter yourself from it. The mouth of the thing opened like flower
petals, revealing a human-like figure in the middle. And as it talked, you knew it was Moreau.

“Damn you!” He cursed, his hands going to his head as he wailed in pain and his body expanded
like a balloon. “H-Help me! Mother! Maaaaaaaaaa-!”

Before your very eyes, Moreau’s body exploded, the stench getting carried everywhere by the wind
and you couldn’t help but gag. Slime erupted like a fountain from his corpse that began to
crystallize and fall apart.

And then you saw Ethan fucking Winters and your blood ran cold. He was bending down to pick
Moreau’s remains up, not having noticed you and muttered something to himself as he frowned in
disgust. You remembered Mia’s words from your first interaction with her; Just you wait until my
husband gets here, you’re all going to be fucked.

Your survival instincts kicked in and you bolted back the way you came from, afraid of what Ethan
would do to you once he saw you. Tears of fear were streaming down your face as you entered the
elevator, pulling the lever hard and panicking when you heard some footsteps, but the elevator
ascended before Ethan could see you. You managed to gather some more strength on the long ride
back up.

You sprinted out of the elevator as soon as it hit the top, taking two steps at a time at the stairs to
buy you more time before bolting out of the windmill and towards the gates. You ran down the path
that led to the village, no longer covered in slime, coming to a staggering halt as you saw
something new.

At the end of the path was a huge metal arrow, pointing to the left with big bold yellow letters
saying “This way”. It looked suspiciously close to something Heisenberg would make.

Remembering Ethan wasn’t far behind you, you ran along the water only to find another huge
arrow some distance away, pointing to the right and saying “This way Papa!”

What the hell was going on?! You followed the sign to the maiden of war, where another arrow
pointed to the left, saying “Rose is waiting for you.”

And just past the graveyard was another arrow, pointing to the path that led to the stronghold,
saying “The show must go on!”

Now you were 100% convinced Karl did all this. And then it hit you: Out of the four Lords of the
village, only Karl was left. He was fucking next on Ethan’s kill list!

You diverted from the path the arrow led you to, its meaning no longer important to you, and ran in
the direction of the factory, terrified that Ethan could somehow make it there before you. You
slammed the fence gate open with your shoulder, lungs burning like they were on fire and hot tears
once more rolling down your cheek. You must look like an absolute mess, but you didn’t care, you
needed to find Karl.

The factory doors opened for you and you ran inside as soon as there was enough of a gap for you
to fit through, no patience left to wait until they fully opened. First, you wanted to look for him in
your room but found huge metal pieces blocking the way. You didn’t have time to ponder over why
Karl would do that, sprinting to the elevator and slamming the button for the lower floors.
You didn’t know where Karl could be and once the elevator opened again, you stepped outside to
call for him.

“Karl! Where are you!?”

There was no answer and you panicked, running off into a random hallway and hoping you could
find him by sheer luck alone. Damn this chaotic labyrinth!

“Karl! Please, I’m sorry, just give me a damn sign where you are!” You yelled again, desperate
sobs wrecking your throat further until finally, some static ran through the halls.

“Y/N?! What the fuck is going on, why are you crying?” Karl asked, voice openly worried. “Are
you hurt?!”

You sobbed and leaned against the nearest wall, relief washing over you like cold water. “Where
are you? I need to see you!”

“I’m in the security room, walk two doors down from where you are and then turn right once and
left twice.” Karl explained, the static stopping as he finished talking.

You followed his instructions, finding an open door at the end in which Karl stood, waiting for you.
The light that illuminated from behind almost made it look like he was an actual angel as you ran
and threw yourself into his waiting arms.

He held you tightly while you sobbed and hiccupped, nuzzling against the skin of his neck to inhale
his scent while he gently stroked his hand down your back.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Karl crooned, pressing a kiss on your temple. “What is it? Are you okay?”

“I thought I’d lost you.” You confessed weakly, pressing closer to him. “I was so scared.”

Karl smoothly guided you inside the security room, dropping down onto a chair and pulling you
into his lap. Besides building your army, Karl had also spent quite some time wiring up most of the
village and the homes of his fellow Lords. The security room was filled with TVs, all showing him
whatever the camera he had placed saw. It was very useful to secretly listen to whatever the other’s
talked about.

Heisenberg lifted your face up from where you were hiding it against him, taking his sunglasses off
to really look at you. “Tell me what happened.”

“I went to Donna’s place,” you began, sniffling and swallowing down more sobs. “And then I
realized what Ethan was doing and figured out he was after Moreau next. I-I saw Ethan kill him.”

“Okay, and besides that? You’re not so upset just because of more death.” Karl pried further.

“Ethan is coming after you next, Karl.” You whimpered, hands fisting onto his coat. “I-I thought he
might have made it to you before me.”

A teasing smile came to his lips. “Aww, you really think Winters could kill me? I’m almost
offended.”

You didn’t appreciate it right now. “Karl, please be serious! We need to get going, Ethan could
come here at any moment and-“
“Actually, he’s at the stronghold.” Karl interrupted you, nodding towards the TVs.

You turned your head to confirm, seeing Ethan running through the stronghold with a horde of
Lycans surrounding him. And then you remembered the arrows, furrowing your brows.

“Karl, what exactly are you up to?”

A wide grin spread over his features. “I already know Ethan killed Moreau, was watching their
fight through the camera even. Gotta admit, fish freak did put up a good fight, wasn’t too bad.”

“Anyway, I realized something. Ethan wants his daughter back and we want to kill Mother
Miranda. Our goals are aligned, so why not work together?”

Your eyes widened in panic. “What?! No, that man is dangerous! He killed three out of the four
Lords already, I will not allow you to get face to face with him.”

Karl rolled his eyes. “I appreciate the worry, but you seem to have forgotten who the most powerful
Lord is. Besides, it all depends on Ethan right now.”

You looked at the screens again, watching Ethan shoot the head off of a Lycan with a grimace.
“Why did you lead him to the stronghold?”

“Talked with him through the telly in Moreau’s place.” He explained nonchalantly. “Told him
exactly where my flask is and that I want him to get it.”

“Karl, what if Mother Miranda finds out?!” You couldn’t believe how reckless he was. “She’s
already so fucking mad at us.”

“Don’t care.” He growled darkly. “If Ethan manages to survive the Lycans and Urias, then I’m sure
he’s a valuable ally. Miranda is so fucked if we three work together.”

“And what will you do if he doesn’t want to work with us? Please Karl, I don’t want to lose you.”
You begged him to see reason, but he refused.

“You won’t, I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse…And if he does, well then he’s dead before he
can even raise his gun at us.”

You realized that there was no arguing with him, so instead, you sacked against him with
exhaustion, looking at the screens with the corner of your eyes. Ethan was busy pushing himself
through a small gap in the wall, the screen switching over to the other side of the gap. It was a little
cave filled with some ammunition and other useful stuff for a big fight. You already suspected it,
but when Ethan went down the stairs and landed in Urias den, you knew who the other participant
in the big fight was.

Karl drew closer to the screen with excitement as Ethan jumped down. Urias emerged from the
light above, landing on the platform up ahead and announcing himself with a terrifying roar. Even
through the cameras, you could tell Ethan was shitting bricks, reloading his shotgun and
immediately starting to blast at Urias.

“He’s so fucking bold, I like it.” Karl grinned, his hold on you tightening from how worked up he’s
getting.
Urias swung his hammer down right next to Ethan, who barely dodged it and ran behind a stone
pillar. Urias grabbed the pilar and broke it off from the ground, Ethan running off again as the
Lycan leader threw the pilar at him, the rocks crumbling upon impact.

Ethan continued to shoot at Urias, aiming for his head every time, dead set on winning this fight.
And when at last the huge beast fell and crumbled into dust, leaving only his hammer behind, Ethan
sacked against the nearest wall with a little victorious smile. Or maybe he was just relieved to still
be alive.

You were stunned and saddened at seeing Urias die like that, shot to death by an enraged father. His
death didn’t hit you as hard as the Lords you’ve had to witness, but you still felt bad for him. Ethan
pushed open the red door and hurried through the crystal cave, then down the stairs to the room
Heisenberg and you had put the Rose flask in.

Karl scooted closer with you still in his lap, grabbing the transmitter on the table and speaking up
just as Ethan grabbed the flask.

“You’re the real deal, Ethan. Well done.” He praised the other man, who stared at Heisenberg’s
crest on the tv.

“Quit hiding, asshole. I’m not letting you get out of this.” Ethan threatened him without hesitation,
and you shivered uncontrollably in fear of him.

Karl placed a kiss to your shoulder to help you stay calm as he spoke to Ethan again.

“Cool your jets. Just a little bit more and you’re all wrapped up. I’ll lend you a hand, so in
exchange…”

Ethan grew restless. “In exchange what?”

Karl apparently changed his mind about how he wanted to do this. “First of all, come to me. Put all
the flasks in the Altar, and I’m sure you’ll figure the rest out. See you, Ethan.”

And Karl ended the call, leaning back with a satisfied hum. “I really like the man.”

“I don’t.” You said and leaned back to look at him. “I don’t want him to come here.”

Heisenberg grabbed your hand and kissed it lovingly. “Look, how about you just let me handle
this?”

You closed your eyes, lips drawn into a thin line. “Please don’t do anything stupid.”

Karl sighed and took off his gloves, wanting skin on skin when he laid his hand to your cheek.
“Open your eyes.”

You did as he asked, a few tears still clinging onto your lashes, and he didn’t like that look on you.

“Can we talk about our argument from before?” He asked quietly, far calmer than he had been
before, so you nodded.

“I’m sorry about what I said.” He apologized. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you for something you
can’t control.”
You nodded. “Karl, just because I didn’t hate the other Lords like you did, doesn’t mean I
automatically would’ve been on their side, let alone Miranda’s.”

His hand dropped away so he could run both up and down his face with a frustrated groan. “I know.
Or I should know. You have never given me a reason to believe that.”

You put your arms around his neck, playing with his hair. “And I never will, because I’ll never
support her, no matter what happens.”

“Look, let’s be honest.” He sighed, fixing you with a pointed look. “We’re a mess, but a mess that’s
working and I promise you, once she’s dead and we leave this place, I…I will change.”

You reached up and cradled his face in your hands. “I don’t want you to change, Karl. I want you.”

Karl looked at you in silence for a while, before leaning in to kiss you softly, his hands coming to
rest on your back to pull you closer. You melted against him, lips trembling as a new round of tears
formed in your eyes, the kiss breaking apart as you sobbed.

“Karl, I love you.” You told him, knowing full well he won’t say it back, as he never did. “Please,
swear to me that you won’t give Ethan another reason to want to kill you. He’s more than just a
man, don’t underestimate him again.”

Karl looked back at you with an unreadable expression, but there was definite guilt in his eyes and
you wanted to know why. You got the feeling he wasn’t quite sincere with you when he next spoke.

“I swear that I’ll be careful when I talk to him.”

He was up to something and the fact that he didn’t want to tell you only made you worry more. But
you bit your tongue, in favour of not causing another argument. You couldn’t stand the possibility
of Karl locking you away and be completely alone with Ethan. No, if he was doing something
reckless, you wanted to be there with him to take at least some of the blows or avoid the worst-case
scenario.

Karl looked past your shoulder and to the TVs again, drawing your attention back to them. “He’s at
the Altar.”

You watched as Ethan carefully slid the flasks into the form in the middle, arranging them in the
order you knew them in from the church. The umbrella seal in the middle, top right Donna’s crest,
top left Lady Dimitrescu’s, down left Moreau’s and lastly Karl’s at the bottom right. The Giant’s
Chalice lifted off the ground and as Ethan lifted it, the torches around the Altar lit themselves,
showing him the path to the Ceremony Site.

Once there, he placed the Chalice down again in the middle with the umbrella seal and stony
fastening emerged and held it down, making sure it couldn’t be removed again. Karl leaned forward
and flipped a switch and suddenly, you realized that there was a bridge that led to the factory, and it
was emerging now so Ethan could cross once he made it down there. You also realized that all this
time, Karl had made you walk the long route from and to the factory.

The whole plate Ethan stood on sunk down into the ground and you watched it all happen in awe.
As Ethan walked out of the tunnel, Karl spoke to him again.
“Don’t worry about the kid, Ethan. It’ll be fine.” He barked a laugh. “Just get your ass across the
bridge.”

Karl’s finger left the button to speak, and he grinned at you, kissing you once more.

“It’s showtime, sweetheart.”

 The Iron Steed
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

You were biting your nails nervously, pacing around behind Karl as he spoke to Ethan while
watching him approach the fenced gate.

“Ah, Ethan Winters. Welcome.”

The gate creaked open and you could tell Karl was trying to make Ethan feel prideful and
compliment him, perhaps to get him into a better mood.

“I didn’t think you’d make it past Donna and Moreau, but I suppose you survived worse back in
America, hmm? I like you.”

Ethan looked around the junkyard that surrounded the factory, walking on the dirt path that snaked
through the dried grass.

“I’d like to speak to you about Rose, and Miranda.” Karl explained, his feet beginning to tap with
nervous excitement.

Ethan was obviously hesitant to approach the front doors, so Karl tried to take away his fear. “Oh,
come on in. Don’t worry, it’s not a trap.”

You gasped and slapped his arm, hissing. “Don’t say that! Saying it’s not a trap will make it look
even more like a trap!”

“Then what the hell should I have said?!” He hissed back, his attention switching back to Ethan as
the front doors slid open.

Ethan stepped inside cautiously, and you began to panic even more. The man that killed three of the
most powerful beings you’ve ever encountered was in your home. And he was out for blood, you
were sure about it, even if Karl assured you he wouldn’t let it come to that.

Karl grabbed your hand and dragged you out of the security room with him, explaining even before
you could ask.

“I made sure to lead him down to the stairs and to my workstation. He won’t be running around
here without me knowing exactly where he is.”

Okay, so Karl was in control still. “What do you want me to do?”

You reached the elevator and started to ascend to the level where his workstation was, and Karl lit a
cigar.

“Don’t say a word. You let me handle this.”

You nodded, squeezing his hand once before pulling away, getting back into your lapdog role. Not
even Ethan could know what the real deal between Heisenberg and you was.
Karl opened the door without making a sound, and as you entered after him, you knew why; Ethan
was already there, looking at the wall with the photos and studying it.

Karl made his presence known. “Truth hurts, don't it?”

Ethan spun around, instantly holding his gun up and aiming at Karl. Your heart dropped down to
God knows where, even if you knew bullets couldn’t really do much to hurt him. Karl smoked his
cigar like nothing was wrong at all.

“Let me guess,” Heisenberg said, puffing out some smoke. “You’re thinking take me out like the
others, and then you get to go and safe Rose, right?”

Ethan lowered his gun, his interest clearly visible, even as he eyed you both warily. “I’m healing
my daughter.”

Ethan walked closer to Karl, making sure to still keep you in his vision.

“Look, y-you’ve got this all wrong-“ Karl began, only to be interrupted by Sturm’s engine sounds
from downstairs. “Dammit, I’m talking here!”

His head turned to the hatch, then back at Ethan and back at the hatch, making a decision. Ethan
stepped back when Karl went over to the hatch and pulled it open, yelling down.

“Shut your fucking hole!”

You grimaced, already feeling Karl’s rage bubbling up and knowing this couldn’t end well if he
couldn’t pull himself together. Heisenberg knew that too, looking at Ethan awkwardly. But at least
Sturm got quiet.

“Sorry about that.”

Karl looked at the rusted chair next to the hatch, pulling it over and gesturing at it, looking at the
other man expectantly.

“Take a seat.”

What the hell was he up to? That’s so suspicious to put the chair right in front of an open hatch! Or
did he simply not realize this and was trying to appear like a caring host? If so, he was doing a
horrible job at it and you could tell Ethan felt the same, as he didn’t take the offered seat.

Karl ignored it, for now, stepping out his cigar and walking over to the table to the side, starting to
play with a knife he found there. Wow, that surely won’t make Ethan more antsy than he already
was.

“Listen, Ethan. You’re being played.”

Ethan didn’t like hearing him say that and you subconsciously crept a little closer to Karl.

“What are you talking about? You think this is a game?”

Of course, Karl didn’t. This was anything but a game and you dreaded the realization that Karl’s
patience was already running out. In a flash, he threw the knife he was playing with at Alcina’s
picture at the wall, approaching Ethan quickly and roughly pushing him down and onto the chair
behind him.

“I said sit!”

You grimaced, for a moment fearing Karl might accidentally push Ethan down the hatch. Karl
didn’t want you to talk, but he said nothing about being silent about it. When Ethan met your eye,
you mouthed a quiet “sorry” towards him, trying to smile calmy but knowing it wasn’t displayed
right. That man scared you more than anything else.

The blonde’s attention switched back to Karl, who pointed at the picture the knife hit.

“Lady super-sized bitch.”

Just as he did on that day when he told you the story about the village, Heisenberg used his powers
to let the knife fly towards his open hand, throwing it back and hitting Donna’s picture.

“Ugly-ass psycho doll.”

And then Moreau’s picture.

“And that moronic freak.”

He looked at Ethan as if he expected him to understand what he wanted to communicate here,

growing frustrated when he obviously didn’t.

“Don’t you get it? It’s a test, to see if you’re strong enough to be a part of Miranda’s family.”

“I don’t want to be part of Miranda’s family.” Ethan snarled menacingly.

And that set Karl off, his voice growing louder. “Neither did I, but here we are!”

He then pointed at himself. “And I’m next in line, right? Kill me, move up the chain!”

Karl swung his arm up, the knife in the wall slicing through Miranda’s picture. “Well, fuck that!”

Ethan scoffed. “I don’t give a damn about your personal issues! I just wanna fix my daughter!”

Karl laughed dryly, talking with his whole body. “So do I!”

Where was Karl going with this? Never, ever had he told you he wanted to put Rose back together.
Sure, he was uncomfortable with what Miranda did to her, but he never seemed to care about what
would happen to the baby in the end.

“Do you have any idea how powerful that kid is? Even Miranda is scared of her-“

Sturm roared again, Karl dropping his head for a second before exploding again, rushing over to
the open hatch and yelling once more.

“Last time, you freak, I swear to god…!”

Ethan curiously looked behind himself and down, probably trying to see what was making all that
ruckus down there and you thought he was lucky to not know. As Sturm went quiet again, Karl’s
and Ethan’s eyes met, the engineer slowly reaching up and removing his sunglasses.

You knew exactly what he was trying to do, appear to be as sincere as he claimed to be. He wanted
Ethan on his side and he needed him to believe in his words. You wondered how exactly Karl
wanted to persuade Ethan to trust the two of you, as Ethan’s disdain towards the whole concept was
obvious.

He bent down a little. “You and me, Ethan.”

You didn’t like that phrasing, as it made you look left out, but remained quiet still. Karl, please
don’t do anything stupid. And then Karl said something that made your whole world stop.

“Together we go safe Rose, and we can use her to grind Miranda into paste!”

No. No, NO! Karl did not just say that! No, he would never drag a kid into this, or further than it
already was. And he just said that to the most dangerous man around! And Ethan acted accordingly.

“My daughter is not a weapon.” He growled warningly, having made his decision on Karl’s offer.
“Fuck you!”

You clasped your hands over your mouth, fear running down your body like ice as Karl slowly
straightened up. Your cuff began to vibrate and you knew Karl was about to do something stupid,
you just didn’t know how stupid.

Karl kicked Ethan’s chair back, the man almost falling and you yelped in surprise, but Karl caught
his arm last second.

“Last chance,” Karl said knowingly, trying to threaten him into submission. “You don’t wanna find
out what’s in that hole.”

And that was the moment you couldn’t hold yourself back anymore. “Karl Heisenberg, I swear to
God if you drop that man-“

But the two men ignored you, Ethan snarling up at Karl. “I’ll take my chances.”

And then he let go of Heisenberg’s arm and you knew without a doubt that there was nothing you
could do to stop what happened next.

“Your funeral.” Karl shrugged, as if he couldn’t care less and letting go of Ethan’s arm.

Ethan screamed as he fell down, hitting the ground with a loud thud and you rushed to the hatch to
look down. Ethan laid on his back and hissed in pain, looking over and evidently meeting Sturm,
who charged at him. You watched in horror as he jumped back to his feet and began running off,
with the machine right behind him. If Ethan didn’t have a reason to kill you before, he sure as hell
had one now.

The roars of Sturm’s engine started to fade, and you closed the hatch, stepping away. Karl and you
said absolutely nothing, but you both knew a huge fight was about to break out. It didn’t disappoint.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” You asked quietly, trying to hold yourself back.

Karl scoffed at you and rolled his eyes. “Calm your tits, he’s not gonna get far.”
No, you would not calm your tits, as he oh so politely told you to. Never in your whole life have
you felt so much rage inside you and it was even more toxic than the rage you had for Mother
Miranda.

“What did you promise me to do when you spoke to Ethan?!” You yelled at him, beyond furious.

“Shut up!” He warned you instead of answering.

“No, I fucking won’t!” You grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him closer. “You promised
me to be careful and I fucking trusted you to keep that promise!”

“I tried to!” He defended himself, removing your hands with a harsh tug. “It’s not my fault that
asshole can’t see what his child can do!”

“Which brings me to my next fucking point!” You laughed bitterly, your face turning red with how
angry you were. “You want to use a fucking baby?! And you really expected the father to just agree
to that!?”

“That’s right, Rose is a fucking baby! Meaning, she won’t even remember this whole shit show!”
Metal flew past your head and hit the wall behind you, but you didn’t even flinch.

Karl was furious, disappointed because he didn’t get his way and even more pissed that you were
now mad at him for it. But you were only getting started.

“Won’t remember!?” You gasped, getting personal without thinking about it. “You seem to
remember everything Miranda did to you, do you wish for Rose to have the same?!”

Karl tensed up, his fists clenching tightly. “Don’t fucking go there, I promise you won’t fucking
like what will happen if you do.”

“Oh, you promise?” You mocked him, getting more and more worked up. “Then I shouldn’t have to
fear anything, right?”

“Shut. The fuck. Up.” He warned you lowly, clenching his teeth tightly, any sort of restrain just
barely there still.

“No, I won’t.” Tears started to form in the corner of your eyes. “I told you how terrified I am of
Ethan. He’ll come after you, Karl!”

“Have some fucking faith in me then!” Karl demanded angrily. “Ethan has no fucking chance
against me! I will kill Mother Miranda, with or without Ethan’s help.”

His eyes narrowed and he added: “Or yours.”

“Karl, I still want to help you.” You clarified quickly before he could convince himself otherwise.
“But I-I can’t believe what you’re planning to do.”

He rolled his eyes again. “I’m not saying we fucking kill Rose! We just harvest her powers and kill
Miranda with them!”

“And then what?” You crossed your arms over your chest. “What happens then, Karl? Do you want
to adopt Rose? Because I’m pretty sure Mia is dead already because Miranda couldn’t care less
about her and now we have to kill Ethan just so he can’t come after us!”
Karl faltered a little but remained determent. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Fucking typical.” You chuckled in disbelieve. “You never think this shit through, do you?”

“I’ve been waiting for this day for my entire life! Nothing can stop me. You told me yourself, you’ll
do whatever it takes to kill Miranda. What was it about breaking promises you said before?” Karl’s
voice dropped low, a sense of danger accompanying every word.

And then you said something you will regret for the rest of your life.

“If you really think about using Rose, then you’re just like Mother Miranda.”

You didn’t mean to say that. Karl was nothing like Miranda, why did you say that? You were mad,
outraged even, but you didn’t want to hurt him. Especially not in times like these, when victory
seemed so close.

Everything went silent, you couldn’t even register the sound of your own breathing anymore as
Karl’s body went completely limp, façade dropping and going dangerously numb. He just stared at
you, you staring right back, too shocked about your own words to form new ones. Then some
emotions returned to his face, hurt flashing over his eyes and you saw wetness starting to form over
their surfaces. He shook his head as he noticed, blinking them away and swallowing audibly before
looking down at the ground.

You found your voice again, if only hesitantly daring to use it. “K-Karl, I-!”

His left hand twitched once before clenching tightly and you got knocked off your feet as he used
the cuff on your right arm to fling you across the room, throwing you against a wall. You wheezed
upon impact; your cuff now fixed to the wall with no chance of escaping. Your head was spinning
as the sound of heavy footsteps rang in your ears and you looked up to see Karl approaching you
with slow and calculated movements. You started trembling violently as you clawed at the cuff,
trying to peel it off the wall somehow so you could get away, but to no avail. He had you well and
truly trapped.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” He tutted at you, still coming closer. “You look scared. Do you want
a big hug from your lovely little play-thing?”

You swallowed, throat closing up with how scared you were. “K-Karl please don’t-“

“Don’t call me that.” He hissed in a warning tone. “No one has the right to call me by that name,
especially not you. Not anymore.”

He finally closed the distance between you and him, one of his hands grabbing you by your throat,
not using any pressure but threatening to do so.

“You know, you almost had me there.” He grinned brightly, like this was some sort of joke, even as
tears finally rolled down his face. “I-I really believed you when you told me you love me.
Should’ve known better, huh?”

Your larynx bobbed against his palm when you swallowed again, making the act uncomfortable. “I
do love you.”

His hand around your throat tightened immediately. “I don’t like it when people lie to me.”
 Your free hand grabbed his wrist, trying to pull him off as he choked you but only leaving behind
faint red lines from your nails on his skin.

“Someone that actually loves me would never compare me to Miranda. Much less accuse me of
being just like her.”

Your eyes started to water, mouth opening and closing in desperation for some air. He pulled you
closer by your throat, leaning down to your ear.

“How dare you lead me on for four entire years, just to betray me in the end after all. I almost can’t
believe my suspicion was right all along.”

The edges of your vision started to darken and you were sure you were about to pass out when his
hand finally left you. You slumped down to the ground, sucking in the desperately needed air like
you were a fish out of water, your right arm still stuck to the wall above you and your left one
rubbing over the red skin of your neck.

You sobbed in fear, cowering away from Heisenberg as he crouched down next to you. His fingers
tightened around your hair, pulling your head back to make you look at him.

“Now my little pet, I will go and hunt down Ethan, make sure his corpse is nice and cold before I
come back and break up with you properly.” He looked like an absolute maniac as he leaned closer
again. “You know, the whole ‘death do us part’ thing.”

You whimpered, afraid to even say anything, and he released your hair, straightening up and
leaving you behind without another look back.

Chapter End Notes

🎵
Bo Burnham singing inside my head: “Well, well! Look who’s inside again, went out to look
for a reason to hide again.”
 Run Rabbit
Chapter Notes

🔥 🔥
Me: *goes to sleep and wakes up in the morning* "Oh damn, that's a lot of comments."
My comments: "Now that's a lot of damage."

See the end of the chapter for more notes

You fucked up. That one sentence, said in a moment of blind rage, was what sealed your fate and
you knew death was close. Heisenberg meant every single word when he threatened you, he really
was convinced you had been deceiving him all this time.

And who could blame him?

In you, he had found a safe space, a person to finally just be himself with. He had opened up to you
like he never had before, told you about everything Miranda did to him…And you used that against
him.

But he wasn’t the only one hurt. He had lied to you, he knew exactly how you would react once he
revealed what his new grand plan entailed, so he went over your head instead of talking to you. He
left you out because he didn’t want you to oppose him, and how could you not?

Karl wanted to use a baby in a fight for life and death! He didn’t even think about what all of this
could mean for Rose, who had already gone through so much in her short life.

And even though you knew how deeply you’ve hurt him, the fact that he used his cuff around your
arm against you, was a betrayal in of itself. When he had put it on, it was with the promise to never
again use it in a negative way.

In the end, you both said and done things today that should’ve never happened. Today was
supposed to be a rebellion, an escape, the beginning of a new life. Instead, everything was falling
apart.

Since Karl left you tied to the wall, you were crying. Everything came crashing down; the fear of
Karl killing you, the fear of Ethan killing Karl and the fear that neither of you will ever escape
Miranda’s clutches.

Your Cadou had already healed the soreness on your throat from where Karl had choked you, so at
least you weren’t in any physical pain right now. When finally the tears dried, after who knows
how much time had passed, you gathered yourself. Trying to make sense of the situation you were
in.

Ethan Winters was dead set on killing Heisenberg. Heisenberg was dead set to both kill Ethan and
you.

And then, you made a decision that would change the course for the rest of your, probably short,
life:
You didn’t care if you died but Karl gets out of this place.

If anyone deserved to leave, to be a free man for once in his goddamn life, it was Karl Heisenberg.
It was the least you could do for him, now that you were sure he could never trust you again.

But that goal required two things: For you to get free of your binding and for Ethan to either be
killed, or to be persuaded into not killing Karl.

You already faltered at the first step; How do you get the cuff off of the wall?!

It didn’t take long for you to realize the action you’d have to take. The cuff wasn’t going to come
off the wall, so you had to get the cuff off of yourself. It hurt to even think about it, but it had to be
done.

With a deep breath, you let your cloud float from above your head a little further away, so you
could aim properly. You knew this might hurt, but you didn’t fear the pain.

Just like you had done to the lock in Moreau’s mines, you let lightning strike the metal on your
arm. The electricity travelled through the metal into your body, but that didn’t hurt, as your own
lightning couldn’t harm you. But as the metal heated up and began to crumble, it burned your skin
and that made you scream out in pain.

You didn’t stop the lightning until you felt the metal slowly give away and with one hard yank, you
freed yourself and stumbled to the floor. Your cloud stopped and settled back over your head as you
stared down at your bruised arm with teary eyes. Your skin was broken and bleeding heavily as you
pushed yourself up to your feet again, every bit of movement painful.

The Cadou was already starting to heal you, but you grabbed a bottle of disinfectant from one of
the many shelves anyway, popping the lid and pouring it over your arm. It stung and you hissed,
but the pain already faded.

As you calmed down and looked around for a moment, your gaze landed on the broken cuff still
stuck to the wall. You approached it with a heavy heart, studying the now distorted crest, the face of
the horse melted almost completely. But it had to be done.

With determination, you started to check your whole body, removing everything that had any kind
of metal on or in it, which was mainly your bra. Karl was definitely going to come after you once
he realized you escaped, so you couldn’t risk him just dragging you to him with his powers.

Once sure you didn’t have any metal on you, you took one final longing look at the cuff before
pushing open the door and leaving.

Now came problem number two: How the fuck do you find Ethan in this giant factory.

Despite having lived here for four years, you still didn’t have enough orientation to comfortably
walk around the place. Karl even once admitted that it took him decades to memorize where
everything was.

Some parts of the factory you knew like the inside of your pockets, mainly the areas you’ve spent
much time in when you helped to build the army. But the others will be tricky, especially if Karl
found you wandering about.
You would have to rely on sheer luck alone to find Ethan and hide from Karl, which meant your
chances were pretty fucking slim on ever getting close to your goal. But fuck it, you’ll die either
way, might as well give it your best.

You walked down the hallway and towards the stairs, trying to avoid the elevator in hopes to not
draw too much attention to yourself by using it. The upper floors were quiet as usual, making it
perfect for you to hear any kind of footsteps once they occur.

You tried to think of where Ethan might be. You knew better by now than to just assume Sturm had
killed him, the man was slippery to say the least. You tried to think of where the paths lead from the
room Ethan was thrown into and knowing Heisenberg, he probably closed all the main exits to
make killing Ethan easier for Sturm.

There was a garbage shoot down there that led directly to the scrap pit at the bottom of the factory,
and if Ethan went down there, he must still be somewhere on the lower floors. Great, the floors you
dreaded most.

It took you about half an hour to reach the lowest floor of the factory and you looked up at the
conveyer belt high above that carried the Soldats around, frowning. Usually, every spot was taken
in by a body, so how come a few were missing? There were always a few Soldats walking around
to guard the floors, but the ones being carried on the conveyor belt were supposed to stay on there.

Did Karl release them to fight Ethan? He needs as much power as he can get, why would he waste
valuable Soldats to hunt down Ethan instead of doing that himself? Another test, perhaps? No, Karl
wouldn’t do that, not after he had already declared Ethan as an enemy.

You stopped walking, cold realization washing over you. If Karl wasn’t hunting down Ethan…then
he was hunting down something else.

“Well, well.” His dark voice came from somewhere above you. “I should’ve guessed you’d slip
away somehow.”

You slowly lifted your head to look up, already dreading what you’d see, and immediately jumping
away to dodge Karl’s hammer as he jumped down from wherever he was hiding before.

You did a dive roll on the floor, scrambling to your feet afterwards and whipping around to face
him. His hammer left a huge dent on the floor, right where you were standing before, and Karl
easily lifted it back up and slung it over his shoulder, a cigar held tightly between his teeth.

Always the fucking showman, he probably trailed after you ever since you left the workstation and
was just waiting for the perfect moment to reveal himself.

“Karl, just fucking listen to me.” You pleaded, holding your right arm in front of you to tell him to
keep his distance.

“What did I tell you about my name, Y/N?” He growled, his gaze wandering from your face to
your outstretched arm and lingering there.

You realized what he must’ve seen just now and gulped, slowly backing away.

“Oh, I see. You no longer want to pretend to be my pet, huh?” He asked bitterly, taking a step
forward every time you took one backwards.
“You tied me to the wall with the cuff.” You pointed out, eyes darting about to figure out an escape
plan. “You promised to never use the cuff against me.”

Heisenberg laughed, dropping the cigar to the ground and stomping on it hard. “You want to tell me
about betrayal of trust? Fucking think again.”

“Karl, I didn’t mean-!” a metal rod flew at you and you barely dodged to the side in time for it not
to hit you.

“Don’t say my fucking name!” He yelled, the metal walls around you creaking with his rage. “Say
it one more fucking time, I dare you.”

“Okay, Lord Heisenberg.” You whimpered, walking along the wall to feel where you were going,
afraid he was leading you to a dead end.

He smirked smugly. “That’s better. Now, how about we play a little game? You know, for old
times’ sake.”

Immediately you shook your head hard. “N-No, I know your kind of games.”

Karl stopped walking closer, his smile growing predatory. “Then you should know better than to
waste your head start.”

Your eyes widened in terror and he laughed at the look on your face, starting to count down.
Adrenalin pumped through your body and you bolted to the right and down a dark corridor, not
daring to look back as the numbers got lower and lower, the hunt starting for real soon.

Fuck, where were you going?! You needed to find Ethan, but how can you when Heisenberg is
right behind you, chasing you like a wolf would chase a bunny. Was it even possible to get away
from him? The place was riddled with cameras, so even if he did lose you somewhere, he could just
go to the security room and find you again.

You dashed through a random room, jumping over a table to safe time instead of walking around it
and smashing into something right after.

It knocked you back down on your ass and you groaned from the discomfort, your heart beating
rapidly as the sound of a drill hit your ears. You slowly looked up to what you bumped into, a
Soldat towering over your form with his drill-arm lifted to strike. You released a yelp of fear before
rolling over to dodge the weapon, the drill getting embedded into the wood of the table you had just
jumped over. You used the momentum to crawl through the gap of the Soldat’s open legs,
scrambling towards the door on the other side of the room and running for dear life.

The Soldats never attacked you before, so you had to conclude Heisenberg told them you were fair
game for them again now that he wanted you dead. So, not only were you running around in an
endless labyrinth, trying to find Ethan while being chased by Karl, you’d also have to find your
way around the machines you helped create.

The Soldat bolded after you and given enough time, the thing will surely get to you. With a sudden
jolt, you remembered that you weren’t as defenceless as you thought you were. Karl wasn’t the
only one with a fucking Cadou inside his body running around here!
You stopped running and faced the Soldat, an idea popping into your mind. You created a cloud
that snaked along the walls of the hallway you were in to form a doorway of sorts and you waited
until the Soldat stepped into it to blast it with lightning from all around. The Soldat yerked in place
when it got hit, exploding into its individual parts.

You panted heavily, slowly but surely catching your breath when static rang through the corridor.

“Not bad, Y/N. I’m surprised you managed to kill the thing, with your oh so good heart and shit.”

Anger and fear started to mix inside you. “Could we just fucking talk for once?!”

“Boring.” Was all he answered to that, the static stopping.

You heaved a frustrated groan, hands fisting into your hair for a moment before calming down. You
needed to push on, you’d just waste time otherwise. Ethan had to be around here somewhere!

By a miracle, you distantly heard the distinctive sound of gunshots being fired. That had to be
Ethan, so you ran in the vague direction of the sounds, trying to navigate a way to get to him. On
the way there, while still looking out for the Soldats and Haulers, you pondered over what exactly
you wanted to tell Ethan.

“Hello! It would make me very happy if you didn’t kill the manic that threw you down a hatch to
meet your death!”

Or perhaps:

“If you don’t kill him, I might be able to help you out, even if I don’t know how to leave this place
on my own too!”

Another frustrated groan and you hit your first against the nearest wall, trying to release at least
some of the build-up tension inside you. The situation appeared helpless and impossible to get any
kind of good ending from, but you refused to give up.

You listened closely to where the gunshots came from, but the closer you got to them, the more
they sounded…fake? And you soon found the reason as to why.

As you walked into the next room, you were faced with Karl again, holding a tape recorder in his
hand and smugly waving it at you, casually leaning back against a workbench. He pressed the stop
button and the sound of gunshots stopped completely.

“You didn’t think I’d make it that easy for you, did you?”

“Stop playing your stupid games with me.” You almost whispered the words, your whole body
shivering in fear. “I’m trying to help you still!”

“I neither want nor need your help.” He replied dryly, throwing the tape recorder somewhere
behind himself. “I want you to suffer just as much as you make me suffer.”

“Please, I-“ Despite knowing better, you tried to plead with him again, but he cut it off.

“Begging won’t get you out of this one.”

With that, he pushed himself off the workbench, done with talking and ready to take action. You
turned around and tried to get through the still open door, but he threw it closed and locked it with
his powers.

“No more running, Y/N. This is fucking it.” He chuckled, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses but
you knew he had tears in them.

You remembered your own words when Karl was first opening up to you, when he was trying to
intimidate you so you’d reveal what he thought you really saw him as.

He wants you to hate him, just so he in turn could hate you.

It appeared you managed to do just that.

The room had no other doors, you realized and you panicked, trying to move away from
Heisenberg. In desperation, you let some lightning flicker over your cloud, a clear warning. But
Karl ignored it, apparently more than willing to be struck by it if he could kill you still.

Then, some mercy finally came to you. From your peripheral vision, you saw a vent that let
through the thick walls to somewhere else, that Karl couldn’t possibly fit through. It was covered
by a grit, but you knew the things were flimsily attached at best, so taking it off would be easy. The
only problem was Karl is really fucking close, you’d have to be extremely fucking fast to make it
inside there before he could catch you. But it was your best bet.

Just as his arm reached out to grab you, you bolted towards the vent. You clawed at the grit and
pulled it off without much force, as you had suspected. Karl was right behind you in a second and
you bought yourself some time by throwing the grit at him, which he clumsily managed to catch, as
he hadn’t expected that move from you.

You all but threw yourself into the vent, starting to crawl through it as fast as you could but he
grabbed your left ankle at the last possible second.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, you little bitch!” He yelled, beyond furious, as he
pulled you back.

You knew once he had you, it was game over. So, gathering as much strength as you could, you
kicked him right between his collarbones, almost hitting his throat. Karl stumbled back with a grunt
and let go of your ankle and you didn’t waste another second to crawl through the vent and emerge
in a hallway on the other side.

A terrifying roar of rage came from the other side of the wall, followed by the sound of metal
creaking and bending, the whole wall starting to shake.

Was he pulling apart the whole fucking wall?!

You didn’t stick around to see, running off to your left and hoping it would lead somewhere good.
You pushed open a door, finding the big open area again with the conveyor belts high above. You
were on a slim catwalk, just about three meters underneath you was the river that cooled off the
many machines and acted as a reservoir.

You ran across the catwalk, holding onto its half-broken railing, but it led you to a dead-end, a
locked door.
“Fuck!” You cursed under your breath, goosebumps erupting over your skin when you heard heavy
footsteps behind you.

“Nowhere left to run, sweetheart.” Karl panted, pulling apart the whole wall back there having
taken its toll on him.

But that wouldn’t stop him from killing you. You said nothing as your gaze wandered from him to
the river below. Only one way left to go.

You flung yourself over the railing, your cloud staying behind as you hit the cold water, instantly
getting taken away by the currents. You didn’t resurface until your lungs were burning with their
need for air, not wanting Karl to see where you would re-emerge.

You pushed your wet hair away from your face, looking for a good place to get out of the water and
finding a random rope dangling right in your path. You grabbed it tightly, not thinking about it and
starting to climb up. As you did so, your cloud caught up to you again, settling back where it
belongs.

Soothing music hit your ears as the rope disappeared over the edge of another catwalk. You
grabbed onto it and pulled yourself up, your body heavy with exhaustion. Warmth reached your
shivering form and you looked up at the light ahead, seeing none other than the Duke sitting in the
elevator.

“Come on in, Y/N. You seem in dire need of some assistance.”

You crawled over to the cart, dropping back onto the floor once you made it inside. You’ve never
actually seen the Duke walk before, you realized, as he got up and grabbed a blanket, coming over
to wrap you in.

As he walked back to his seat, you slowly regained some strength and sat up, looking over to the
merchant with gratitude.

“Thank you, Duke.”

“Not a worry, my dear.” He assured you, chuckling. “Dead clients are bad for business.”

You smiled faintly, sniffling. “I think I fucked up bad, Duke.”

He regarded you with an understanding look. “Ah yes, Lord Heisenberg and you seem to be on less
than good terms right now.”

“I hurt him.” You confessed, some anger coming back despite that. “But I still want to help him! I-I
just don’t know how I can find Ethan in here.”

The Duke pressed a button next to him, the elevator starting to move and ascend. “Mister Winters is
currently making his way back to the upper floors. He is quite resilient.”

You nodded, taken a few calming breaths before getting back to your feet with determination.

“Y/N, things will get better again.” The Duke suddenly said with a calm smile. “Not all is lost yet.”

You took his words in but said nothing. The elevator doors opened and you walked off, looking for
Ethan and hoping Karl was still on the lower floors searching for you. Or maybe he assumed you
 were dead already.

You reached the broken catwalk you once contemplated jumping off from and sighed. You didn’t
want to get to its edge, afraid Karl could spot you then, and turning around. Your face was met with
a chest, and the dog-tag neckless and the hair poking out from underneath a stained shirt told you
exactly which chest it was.

“Got you, sweetheart.”

You staggered back, screaming with how scared you were and met Karl’s eyes, uncovered for you
once more. This time, he truly had you caught. There truly was nowhere left to run.

He realized this too as he slowly stepped closer, backing you more and more towards the edge.

“I thought you and me would leave this damn place together.” He said, voice barely audible, clearly
struggling to hold back more tears. “But maybe it was just stupid to think I’d ever have anything
close to a normal life. I should’ve known better, there are no happy endings in real life. I’ll never be
somewhere in a normal house, with a loving wife by my side as we watch our little ones run around
the place.”

Your throat closed up entirely, hot tears rolling down your cheeks as he told you that. When you
reached the edge, Karl only needed to take two more steps to be right in front of you again.

He lifted his hand and wrapped it back around your throat, easily lifting you up with one hand. You
choked, your hands once again grabbing his wrist and trying to pull him off of you as he dangled
you over the edge.

Now he was crying, the pain no longer being pushed down by his anger.

He took a shaking breath. “I hate you for making me think I could have all that.”

You couldn’t say anything, so instead, you reached out to his face with one hand, gently cradling
his cheek in your palm and tremblingly wiping away the tears. For a second, it looked like you’ve
reached him, he hesitated, but then he let go and you dropped back down into the depts of the
factory.

Unconsciousness embraced you when you hit the water below.

Chapter End Notes

Why am I doing this to myself? 😢

Not a spoiler, but just trust the process my dear readers!

 Bonus
Chapter Notes

Surprise! Double update, even if this one is short.

Heisenberg's POV

I stood there for a long while, arm outstretched as if I was still holding her. But she was gone.

Wasn’t that what I wanted?

What a stupid question, of course I wanted her dead. Why the fuck else would I chase her around
my whole factory?!

Slowly, I let my arm drop back to my side, taking a deep breath. I still felt her touch on my face,
and I furiously wiped at the pathetic tears that stained my skin. I’m crying like a little kid over
something I have done to myself.

I hated that she was right all along, that I am the monster I used to see me as before she bullied her
way into my life. She wasn’t wrong when she called me out, what I am planning to do with Rose is
undoubtedly right up Miranda’s alley.

Deep down, I always loved it when she called me out on my bullshit. She had a loud fucking mouth
for someone so easily scared. But today was too much. I was already on edge, mind lost in a rush of
glorious revelation once I realized that Winters guy could be useful.

Did I really expect the man to follow my lead though? Well, guess that was wishful thinking on my
part, just like it was with the life after Miranda that I dreamed of. Now, I had nothing, besides the
simplest of plan;

Step one: Kill Ethan Winters.

Step two: Kill Mother Miranda.

And then what? Well, nothing. I can’t even remember what I used to think my life could look like
after I got my revenge. Ever since Y/N came to me, she had changed my view on life forever, now
all that I could think of was a simple life together with her, somewhere no one can ever find us
again.

But I fucked that up pretty fucking bad. I was so damn sure that once I killed her, the hurt would
stop. It’s what I used to do before meeting her; Lash out.

Why wasn’t it working though?!

I felt guilty, a feeling I didn’t often have, and I regretted what I just did. Yes, she fucking hurt me
and really fucking deep too, but I…I still love her.
I staggered back from the edge, my hat dropping to the floor as I fisted my hands into my hair
harshly, just so I could feel anything else than what I was experiencing right now.

Normally, there was only one person I’d be completely honest to and that was my own damn self. I
fucking love her. No, I hate her. What the fuck is happening?!

I looked over to the edge again, contemplating about looking down. Maybe she was still alive. The
Cadou does have its messed-up benefits, like great healing abilities, so she could still be alive,
right?

No, why would I even hope for that?! And even if, and that was a big fucking if, she was still alive,
what we had together was gone. I can’t expect her to just forget what I did to her, now she’ll
definitely run for the hills if her body isn’t cold yet.

I froze when I heard footsteps somewhere in the distance, my mind remembering what else was
currently going on besides the conflict inside me.

I reached down and grabbed my hat off the dusty floor, an old exhaust pipe floating over so I could
step on it. I let it carry me up to another catwalk, that would be hiding me in the darkness. I reached
inside my pocket and retrieved my sunglasses, putting them back on along with my hat.

As Ethan Winters stepped into the room, looking for the nearest exit, I finally admitted to myself
what I regret most about today.

That I never told her I loved her.

 Under My Umbrella
Chapter Notes

Oh my God, my dear readers, your comments are messing me up (not in a bad way), the
tension is so thick even I who knows what's happening is on edge 😅

The world came back to you slowly, which was great because that meant you weren’t dead yet.

You thought you heard some faint voices, two men that seemed to be arguing. You recognized one
of the voices as belonging to Ethan Winters, the other you didn’t know. You couldn’t make out
what exactly they were talking about, just catching bits and pieces of the conversation as you
drifted in and out of consciousness.

“-Miranda’s fucking insane-“

“-Like Louisiana-“

“-Might not be true-“

“-They have my daughter-“

Then a loud explosion, but you couldn’t wake up properly yet to open your eyes. Why couldn’t you
move?

The voice you didn’t know said something about planting explosives down here and shortly
afterwards you heard something big and mechanical move and drive off.

Finally, you forced your heavy eyelids to open, black spots dancing across your vision as you
looked around. You soon realized your hands were tied together behind you, which was the reason
you couldn’t move quite as freely as you wanted to.

A few feet away from where you were laying stood a man with his back turned to you, wearing
completely black clothing. Recognition flashed over your features once the man turned around.

“Ah, finally awake I see.”

You gasped quietly, not thinking about your first words uttered to him. “You’re the boulder
punching dick.”

Chris Redfield groaned and rolled his eyes. “I punched a boulder one time, which fucking worked
by the way, and even people like you mock me for it?”

“What’s going on?” You asked, slowly rising to a sitting position, which wasn’t easy with your
arms tied back. Your muscles felt sore.

Chris sighed, reaching for a file he had close by.

“F/N L/N, Age (your age). Went missing four years ago under mysterious circumstances, presumed
dead.”

Then he looked at you with a raised eyebrow. “Yet here you are.”

It scared you that he apparently had a whole damn file about you. “W-Where are we?”

“I heard you hit the water,” Chris explained calmly, eyeing your cloud around your head carefully.
“Pulled you out before you could drown after that manic Heisenberg threw you to your death.
We’re still in the factory.”

“Karl…” You said his name with a tired exhale, remembering his face before he let go.

“Don’t worry. Ethan is up there and taking care of Heisenberg.” Chris shrugged, obviously
assuming you would be glad to hear that.

Your head snapped up to meet his face so fast it hurt from the whiplash. “What?! No, no, no!
Please, don’t kill him!”

You struggled against your bindings while Chris regarded you in surprise.

“What? That freak tried to kill you!”

“I-I know!” You cried out, biting back some choice words about him calling Karl a freak. “You
don’t need to understand, but please stop Ethan!”

He looked at you bewildered. “You’re just as crazy as the rest of them, huh? I can’t call Ethan back,
they’re already fighting.”

“Then let me talk to Karl!” You begged, desperate to prevent the ineffable. “I know I can stop
Heisenberg!”

Chris looked amused as he shook his head. “What do you think you’d do up there? Why would
Heisenberg of all people care what you’d say?”

You huffed, fixing him with a pointed look. “Because I love him.”

Chris tilted his head. “Okay, now I’m sure you’ve hit your head when you fell.”

“Please, I’ll do anything if you let me talk to him.” You begged desperately.

“Why should I care?” He responded coldly. “I know Heisenberg and you have been building an
army to fight Miranda, but that doesn’t mean we’re on the same team.”

“Then why keep me alive?!” You snapped at him, lightning flickering over your cloud crown. “If
Heisenberg’s death means nothing to you, then mine shouldn’t even be worth noting down.”

“Because you aren’t as far gone as he is.” Chris pointed out. “There’s still some humanity left in
you. So, you can relax, you’re under the protection of the Umbrella Corporation now.”

How the fuck could Chris say so much about your character, had he been spying on Karl and you
long enough to tell you weren’t as heartless as the rest of the village?
You shook your head. “I-I won’t leave this place without Karl. I don’t want your protection.”

“That choice is not up to you,” Chris replied, his face serious. “Listen, I’ve seen too many good
people die in my life. I will not let you kill yourself.”

“Then what about Ethan? What if Karl manages to kill him? Isn’t that also a good person dying
under your watch?” You challenged him, instantly knowing you’ve hit a nerve there.

“You don’t know Ethan as I do.” He snarled warningly.

You scoffed at him. “And you don’t know Heisenberg as I do. All I’m asking of you is to let me try
and break their fight off, neither of them has to die.”

Chris was silent and studied you for a long while. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking about, if
he was actually considering what you were saying or if he was just contemplating about knocking
you unconscious again, just to stop you from talking. Then he approached and crouched down to be
on your level.

“Fine, I’ll let you talk to him.” He offered, but his voice held a heavy seriousness. “Under one
condition; If Heisenberg and you survive this, you’ll both be taken in by Umbrella and you’ll go
willingly.”

You blinked confusedly. “What? So, instead of our current dictator, you expect us to accept another
one!?”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how much you know about Umbrella, but we’re no longer killing
and breeding bioweapons. Instead, we protect them and in turn, also the normal people living on
this earth.”

He tilted his head with a smirk. “What exactly do you expect to happen if you two made it out? Do
you really think Heisenberg could live among people again? That he’d get a boring nine-to-five
job? That your life could be remotely normal without us to help you along?”

You bit your lip, hating that he had a point. Karl couldn’t possibly adapt to the outside world
without landing in jail or something. He wasn’t friendly, which was an understatement, and hated
having any kind of boss, so who knows if he was even able to get a job.

“So…” You adverted your gaze, his heated eyes not helping you make a rational decision. “Karl
and I could live the life we want still?”

“Eh, kinda.” He admitted, shrugging. “We’ll keep close tabs on you and everything that goes on
around you. But otherwise, sure. You know how it was with Ethan and Mia, you saw their home.
Did that look like a prison to you?”

The offer sounded more than welcomed, you had to admit that. Would Karl come along? No telling
really. Hell, you weren’t even sure if you could actually stop the fight currently happening up there.
But you had to try.

You nodded, meeting Chris’s gaze again. “Okay, deal.”

He reached for his belt and took out a knife, getting up and walking behind you. For a split second,
you feared he’d do something sketchy but then felt him cut the rope that tied your arms back.
You brought your arms to your front, gently rubbing the reddened skin while Chris walked over to
the elevator and pressed the button to call it back down. On slightly wobbly legs, you straightened
up and walked towards him.

Neither of you really trusted the other, which was understandable given only the brief interaction,
but Chris wanted Ethan to survive just like you wanted Karl to survive. And that was enough of an
alliance to you.

The elevator reached you and you stepped inside without hesitation.

“I guess good luck.” Chris said, arms crossed over his chest. “And don’t forget our deal.”

“I won’t.” You replied dryly, taking a few deep breaths as the cart started to ascend.

Through the gaps, you were able to see the factory in all its glory again. You got the feeling it
would be the last time you’d see it and you couldn’t quite tell if you’ll miss the sight or not. As you
got closer to the top, sounds of a huge struggle reached you. Explosions, gunshots, the sound of
circular saws and some chain saws. You wondered what exactly you’d see once you got up there,
but nothing could’ve prepared you for the real thing.

The elevator stopped at the top, the doors blown off and you gulped as you approached them,
taking in the scene. A heavy storm was blowing about, delivering rain along with it, undoubtedly
caused by your power that was unleashed uncontrollably as you were out.

First, surprisingly, you saw Ethan, sitting in a little tank armed with a big gun and a chainsaw.

And only then did you see what, or rather who, he was up against.

A giant creature, flesh and metal mended together in a grotesque symphony of madness and you
staggered a step back, too shocked to even comprehend what was going on. And then you
remembered Lady Dimitrescu and Moreau in their mutated form and your brain finally realized that
it was Karl after all. And then he talked, and even though his voice was distorted, you knew it was
him.

“Haha! So this is the power of fatherly love, huh?”

He swung at Ethan, mocking him. “Is Rose’s daddy alright?”

Something about his voice felt off. To everyone else, it might not be possible to notice, but for you,
who could get an award for guessing what kind of moods he was in, it was easy to hear.

Then something on or in Karl exploded and his whole body jerked with the force of it. There was a
painful cry and that was enough for you to finally engage.

“Ethan! Karl! Stop it!” You yelled, stepping out and onto the battlefield, dodging flying pieces of
metal skilfully.

But of course, the two didn’t hear you over all the other sounds. More metal pieces started to float
all around you, some nearly hitting you as Karl dragged them to his body, some attaching
themselves to him while others formed a protective shield.

Okay, think. You had to somehow have both of them stop at the same time because if only one of
them does, the other will deliver a killing blow. Your first thought was to use lightning to get their
attention, but you feared with the way they moved you could hit them, which wouldn’t be
beneficial.

Your second idea was to immobilize them with heavy snowfalls. You were sure it would work on
Ethan’s tank, since it was small enough and more vulnerable. But Karl? By the time your clouds
would manage to immobilize him with snow, he’d have more than enough time to kill Ethan.

And then something clicked and you grinned, finally having figured out how you could end this
fight without more bloodshed.

You concentrated and lifted your arms. Soon, the place started to fill up with clouds, getting more
and more dense until it was impossible to see anything anymore. For yourself though, you made
sure the clouds allowed you to see exactly what you needed.

“What the fuck is this?!” Karl cursed, trying to wave through the mass to find Ethan again.

Said man, luckily, got too confused to continue shooting at Karl, which would’ve given away his
position, and you took that momentum to run at him. You lurched at him, throwing him off the tank
and tackling him to the ground.

“What the hell?!” Ethan scrambled to push you off, ready to fight you.

“Ethan, hold on! Chris send me!” You told him, hearing Karl starting to move around in order to
find Ethan again.

The blonde calmed down, still regarding you warily. “Chris? Why the fuck would he do that?”

“Long fucking story and we don’t have the time.” You rushed over your words. “Look, I’ll keep
Heisenberg away, and you go to the ceremony site and safe your daughter.”

“Why should I trust you?! You’re with the dude that tries to kill me right now!” He hissed, getting
antsy.

“Please, we don’t have the time to argue! Go get Rose, fucking kill Miranda! I’ll take care of
Heisenberg.” You assured him, getting up to your feet and grabbing his arm to help him up too.

“Oh, papa! Come out, come out wherever you are!” Karl sing-songed, continuously getting closer,
and while he couldn’t see you, he could still accidentally run you over.

You build an open path through your clouds, pushing Ethan into the direction of the gate on the
other side of the field. Ethan must’ve seen something in you then, you couldn’t tell what it was, but
he nodded and ran off towards the gate. Once you were sure he was gone, you prepared yourself to
face Karl.

You turned to face him, letting your clouds fade in one swift move, revealing yourself to him. In his
hurry though, he didn’t immediately recognize you, swinging his saw down at you with a
triumphant roar, thinking you were Ethan.

“There you are you little shit!”

You didn’t flinch or moved at all, just stared right up at his disfigured face. Suddenly, recognition
flashed over his features and in the last second, he twisted his arm awkwardly to the side, hitting
the ground instead. You closed your eyes and slowly released the breath you were holding in.
Everything went quiet and you opened your eyes again to meet Karl’s.

“It’s you.” He said both in awe and confusion. “How the fuck are you still alive?”

“I told you, my heart is made from metal and you attract me like a damn magnet.” You said calmly,
approaching his huge form slowly.

He barked a laugh, shaking his enormous head in disbelieve. “Even now, after I threw you down to
your death, you’re still pretending to love me?”

“Get it in that fucking thick head of yours already.” You snarled with real venom to make sure he
finally got it. “I really do love you, Karl!”

“S-Shut up with your lies already!” He demanded, rolling a little further away. “Look what I am!
You seriously want to tell me you love that?!”

“Why do you think I keep coming back?” You asked him, slowly backing him into a corner with
your words.

“How the fuck should I know?!” His voice was starting to break, forbidden feelings resurfacing in
him. “Because you’re crazy!?”

Unlike what happened at the beginning of your relationship with him, he wasn’t opening up to you.
No, it was you that was opening him again, removing the barriers he put up and peeling away
layers upon layers of hate and hurt until you’d eventually find his core, his true self. He was
struggling with you forcing the feelings he had for you to resurface after he finally managed to bury
them again.

Right after he had let go of your throat, he knew a piece of himself was gone along with you. The
burning hurt of betrayal and pain didn’t let up as he hoped it would, once he finally killed you. He
hated himself for killing you, he hated that he couldn’t cope with it differently, he hated that he
couldn’t forgive you for what you said. He hated every single piece of himself with a passion he
had lost some time ago after you entered his life.

Everything he had accomplished in these last few years, it was all thanks to you. You gave his life a
new meaning, something that promised to be more than just a fantasy of his, that he’d only let
himself think of when he was alone in the darkness.

And then you were gone and the meaning of his life was lost with you. Kill Miranda, get the
revenge he always wanted, and then what? Nothing. He didn’t care anymore, there was no future
waiting for him afterwards, now that you were gone.

Finally, there was nowhere left for him to go, panicked pants leaving his mouth as you reached out
to him. He was shaking, trying to get away because he knew as soon as you touched him, you’d
realize what a monster he truly was.

Your hands came to rest on each side of his face, thumbs carefully gliding over the metal and flesh
there, with no fear or disgust. With tears in your eyes, you leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the
cold metal underneath his nose, hoping that it made sense as you couldn’t figure out where else his
mouth might be.
You flinched but didn’t break the kiss as pieces of metal started to drop from his mutated body,
littering the field of destruction around you as he slowly but surely returned to his usual
appearance. You chuckled happily, with tears rolling down your cheek, when the metal you were
kissing dropped away and was replaced with the warmth of his lips.

Karl dropped to the ground, breaking away from the kiss and immediately started coughing up
blood. He was more than just a little insured, his attire ripped to shreds in some places and bruises
and cuts covering him everywhere. You went down with him, holding his shaking form against
your body, even as the act covered you in his blood. The fight with Ethan, and him mutating back
and forth, had taken its toll on him and he weakly clung to you, pressing his face against your chest
and sobbing.

Neither of you had to say it, but you knew you were right all along; Ethan would’ve killed Karl in
that fight if you hadn’t stepped in.

You pressed your face against the top of his head, nuzzling his hair that was drenched in sweat.
“Shh, it’s going to be alright, Karl. We’ll be okay.”

His whole body was trembling, both from pain and from the onslaught of feelings that assaulted his
senses and it looked like he was about to talk, when someone else spoke up.

“How very touching.”

Your head snapped up at Mother Miranda, standing just a few meters away, face unmasked and a
fake smile adorning her lips.

Karl tried to push himself off of you, wanted to protect you from Miranda’s wrath but too weak to
do so just yet. You gently removed yourself from him, laying him down on the ground on his back
before getting to your feet, taking in a protective stance between him and Miranda. Karl tried to
reach for you, quietly calling out your name in an effort to get you to back down. It didn’t work.

“Leave us the fuck alone.”

Miranda laughed in amusement. “My, my. Is that any way one should talk to their mother?”

You clenched your teeth, baring them to her threateningly. “You are not our mother.”

Miranda pursed her lips and nodded, circling you with calculated steps and you made sure to follow
her movements around Karl, determent to fight her to keep him safe.

“I guess that is true, in the end.” Miranda mused. “No child of mine could become such a failure as
you two proved to be.”

Where the fuck was Chris?! Was he just casually watching the scene, eating some popcorn?! Why
wasn’t he attacking Miranda?

Karl rolled over to his side, coughing up more blood but forcing words to form despite that. “Y/N,
r-run, get the fuck aw-ay from her.”

“No.” You hissed in his direction, squaring up as lightning flickered over your cloud again. “I’ll kill
that bitch.”
Miranda tutted at you disapprovingly. “What a shame. As much as I’d like to kill you myself, I’m
afraid a certain Ethan Winters is currently trying to take away my daughter, so I must be off.”

With fast steps you approached her, ready to fight her and done holding back. “No, you won’t you
fucking-!”

A huge root shot up right in front of you and you stumbled back, the tip nearly impaling you.
Miranda laughed loudly as she watched you getting scared, more and more black roots shooting up
from the ground and closing in on Karl and you.

“Now, now, Y/N. I really can’t stick around any longer. But hey, see this as an act of mercy.”
Miranda said, only one spot purposely still open so you could see her. “After all, you two can die
together with your love.”

And a last root grew from the ground, forming a writhing and wiggling mess of dark tentacle-like
extensions that effectively caged you in. You kicked against the barrier, hitting it with some
lightning to try and break them away, but to no avail. They just kept closing in on you.

Karl was wheezing and curling in on himself, calling out to you. “Y-Y/N…”

This time you listened, rushing and dropping down to his side. “Shh, my love. Save your strength,
I’ll get us out of here, I promise.”

Karl just looked up at you, smiling even as his brows furrowed in pain.

“I love you too.”

 The Witch
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

He said the words like they were a final goodbye and you couldn’t have that.

“Don’t fucking give up on me now.” You hissed, cradling his face in the palm of your hands.
“We’re getting out of here. We’ll go somewhere far away, find a house, have kids, all the stuff you
told me about.”

“I love you.” He repeated instead of responding to your actual words. “I…I shouldn’t have waited
so long to tell you that. I wasted so much fucking time.”

His Cadou had already started to heal him, making the pain fade from his face slowly but surely,
but the roots grew closer and closer still.

“I’m so sorry for everything I did back there, sweetheart.” He apologized, talking so calmy like he
was already embracing death. “I’m such an idiot, trying to kill the one good thing I had in my life.”

The roots touched your back and you scooted closer to Karl, the darkness making it harder and
harder to see his face. And then finally, a loud explosion right above you. Your ears rang from the
close proximity and you threw yourself over Karl, refusing to let more harm come to him. The
roots took the hit, the weakest one crumbling away while the others stood strong. You took that
chance, grabbing Karl by the shoulders and pushing him up.

“Come on, you dramatic asshole! We’re getting out of here.”

Karl was nowhere near stable on his legs yet, wobbling after you as you dragged him along,
pushing through the small gap before pulling him through too. He collapsed to the ground on the
other side, groaning and heaving. You didn’t have time to let him rest, pushing him onto his back
and putting your arms under his shoulders, curling around his armpits and dragging him further
away from the roots that still tried to come after you.

There was fire everywhere, but you were quick to have more rain falling down, putting the flames
out for you to safely travel. There was another explosion and you looked up to see the roots
crumbling for real this time, burning up. A laser was pointed at it, and you followed it until you
saw Chris Redfield standing on the top of the factory.

“Yes! Karl, we’re okay now.” You said with relief, carefully letting him rest on the ground again.

New scars formed over his face and body as the Cadou finally managed to heal the worst of his
injuries. You went down to your knees next to him, carefully combing your fingers through his hair.

The shit-eating grin you knew all too well crossed over his features. “Hey, how about some couples
therapy when this is over?”

You couldn’t stifle the giggles that came from you. “Oh, we’ll definitely need more than just that
type of therapy.”
It looked like he wanted to say more, but his mouth snapped closed when all around you dark
figures appeared, all pointing their guns at you. Though if you didn’t know any better, they were
more focused on Karl than you.

“Karl Heisenberg, don’t fucking move!” A woman’s voice said sternly.

Instantly you grabbed Karl’s hands, knowing he didn’t need them to use his powers, but grabbing
his attention with the move. “Karl, listen to them.”

His lips drew into a thin line as he kept your gaze, listening to you but not at all happy about it. The
wall of people parted to let Chris Redfield approached, amused astonishment clear on his face.

“Not bad, Y/N. Didn’t think you could pull that off.”

You let Karl slowly rise up to sit and he grinned up at the other man mockingly. “Why, if that isn’t
the boulder punching asshole.”

Luckily, Chris ignored the insult and continued focusing on you. “A deal is a deal, Y/N.”

You nodded slowly, avoiding meeting Karl’s gaze as he questioned what’s going on.

“What fucking deal is he talking about, Y/N?”

“Look, I’ll tell you later.” You promised him, looking back at Chris. “We still have a bitch to kill.”

“Ethan is already on it.” Chris commented with a shrug, but it was clear he was worried about that
fact.

You rose to your feet with determination. “Then we’ll go help him kill her.”

Now the guns definitely pointed at you, the whole team clearly on edge by you making demands.
Heisenberg grumbled and got to his feet as well, defending your claim to be involved.

“Killing Miranda was all I ever wanted. I won’t let you people get in my way.”

You sighed loudly. “Karl, threatening them won’t help right now.”

“I could kill them.” He answered you with a dark smile, relishing in the gasps that sentence enticed
and the guns that pointed back at him.

Chris raised an eyebrow, gesturing at Karl. “You really expect me to set that lose?”

You rolled your eyes. “You believed me when I said I could break their fight off, so why not trust
me that I’ll make sure Miranda is dead and Ethan lives?”

Chris mulled the choice over and over in his mind, regarding Heisenberg and you suspiciously.
“Alright, but our deal still stands. Team, we’ll set out and find the megamycete, Heisenberg and
Y/N, you go to the ceremony site.”

Karl growled, not liking having orders barked at him, but you grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle
squeeze. “Yes, Chris. We’ll see you later.”
“Oh, I’ll make sure you do.” He promised, glancing at Heisenberg one last time before he called his
team to retreat.

Once again, it was only Karl and you, suspended in awkward silence.

“Okay, let’s get going.” Karl finally sighed, turning towards the gate and summoning some saw
blades to his side. “Can’t let Winters get my kill.”

Your hands broke apart, which you could tell he didn’t particularly like but he didn’t retake yours,
afraid he could overstep. Silently, you walked off towards the ceremony site, the rain slowly
stopping after the last bit of fire was out.

“So, erm…” Karl cleared his throat, looking straight ahead. “How exactly did you…you know.”

You too, kept your gaze on the path ahead. “Chris found me and pulled me out of the water after
you…”

You trailed off, the memory still too fresh. “…He saved my life.”

Heisenberg sucked in a breath through his teeth. “And what was this deal he was talking about?”

You knew it would cause another argument, but you just didn’t have the energy to think about it too
much. “He had me tied down, at the bottom of the factory. The deal was that he’ll let me get up and
talk to Ethan and you.”

“And what did he get out of it?” He pried further, oddly calm still.

Finally, you looked at him. “That the Umbrella Corporation can take us under their wing.”

Heisenberg was silent, too silent for your liking, so you went on.

“Look, I know what you’re thinking, but they aren’t like Miranda. Chris told me they’d let us have
the life we want, that they just keep an eye on us. Make sure neither you or I are doing anything to
harm or disrupt the rest of the world. I know I shouldn’t have made that decision on my own but I
couldn’t just-“

“Okay.” He interrupted your rambling, pushing some hair from his face.

“Okay?” You repeated with a hint of doubt. “You’re not mad at me for just signing away your total
freedom?”

Karl stopped walking, having found the courage to face you. “Let’s be real here; Do I really have
any right to be mad at you after what I did back there?”

“After what I said to you?” You asked in return, your body limp from exhaustion. “We both said
and did things today that we never should have.”

He nodded, acknowledging the hurt today caused on both of you. “I know you kissed me and said
you still love me, somehow…But are we still a thing?”

“I don’t think this is the right time for that conversation, Karl.” You pointed out, starting to walk
again. “But I promise we’ll have a long talk when this is all over.”
He stood still for a few moments before catching up to you. “Alright. First kill a bitch, then talk.”

The closer you got, the more roots from the Megamycete formed around you, wiggling and
writhing. Then the sounds came, gunshots and the distorted voice you knew belonged to Miranda.
The ceremony site had a wall of roots along its border, making it impossible to get through at the
bottom. After a quick discussion, you both climbed up one of the four statues there, the tendrils
moving further apart from one another the higher up you were. Once up there, you took in the
battle.

Miranda definitely wasn’t the same anymore. Her face looked like it was broken, cracks forming
and black fluids oozing out of them. Her fingers were claw-like, reminding you a little bit of Lady
Dimitrescu’s, and her black wings were definitely larger. She was controlling the roots around her,
it seemed like, as they helped fight off Ethan’s advances.

Ethan was shooting at her, and you were surprised to see the bullets actually did something to her.
You guessed she was more vulnerable in her mutated form like the others were too. Then you
spotted something small and pink on top of one root, pointing at it to show it to Karl.

“Look, there’s Rose!”

You were too high up for Miranda or Ethan to notice you, but you still kept your voice hushed.

Karl nodded. “We’ll definitely need to get her. Looks to me like Ethan is holding himself back
because he doesn’t want to hurt the kid.”

“Okay, I have an idea.” You declared, straightening up more. “You think you could cut through the
root that’s holding her with your powers?”

He tilted his head, contemplating. “I think so. What exactly are you up to?”

“I’ll jump down there and I want you to cut the thing apart. I’ll catch Rose, summon some clouds to
hide us from Miranda.” You explained, cringing when Ethan just barely dodged her claws. “And
then we three will give it our all, Miranda will fall.”

Heisenberg frowned deeply, hesitating to accept that idea. “…Just be careful, alright?”

For someone that nearly succeeded in killing you, Karl seemed really afraid of you dying on him
now.

“I will.” You promised him, waiting until Karl was ready before jumping down, the Cadou inside
you making sure the fall didn’t hurt you as much.

You didn’t wait until Miranda spotted you, running at the root that held Rose. The sounds of things
sizzling through the air came from above you, two circular sawblades spinning fast and hitting the
black root. It wasn’t instantly, but Karl managed to cut through the mass on both sides of Rose, the
infant falling down.

You caught her, held her close to your chest and summoning the clouds just as Mother Miranda
turned around and saw what was happening.

“NO! Give her to me!”

Everything disappeared as the thick clouds surrounded the whole ceremony site, Ethan waiting
with shooting more in order to not waste bullets. As you did before, you made sure Karl, Ethan and
you could still see at least some of your surroundings.

Heisenberg had jumped down once the clouds appeared and made his way over to Ethan, steadily
avoiding running into Miranda, who was swinging her claws around aimlessly. You made it to their
side too, Ethan looking between the two of you with suspicion.

“Don’t question it.” You whispered, nodding towards where Miranda must be. “Let’s end this.”

All three of you readied themselves and with a deep breath, you let your clouds disappear. Miranda
spined around, fixing her eyes on the three of you before slowly looking down at Rose in your
arms.

“I will tear you all to shreds, one by one, if you do not hand that baby over right now!” She
threatened, obviously assuming you’d let yourself be intimidated.

“Oh my God, just shut the fuck up already!” Karl yelled, fingers twitching with their need to finish
Miranda off.

The crow-like woman lurched in your direction and not waiting for any other sign to engage, you
three attacked.

Heisenberg let a rain of random metal pieces and rods fly in her direction. Ethan was blasting his
gun, aiming perfectly on Miranda's head. You summoned the strongest lightning bolt you ever
created, hitting her directly in her chest.

“My daughter…My Eva!” She shrieked as everything hit her, stopping her dead in her tracks.

Impaled on metal rods, with flickers of electricity visible between them, and bullet holes pretty
much everywhere, her body slumped, going completely limp. You three only relaxed once her body
crystallized and crumbled to dust. That couldn’t be faked. It was a little anticlimactic, you thought,
until the roots around you also crumbled and decayed, leaving behind a path of destruction.

You turned around to face the others with a triumphant smile, that instantly faded when you were
met with the barrel of Ethan’s gun.

Heisenberg was just as shocked, hesitating to intervene in fear of Ethan pulling the trigger on you.

Blue eyes narrowed at you. “Hand. Over. My. Daughter.”

That’s when you remembered Rose was still in your arms and you swallowed, slowly holding her
out for him to take.

“N-No worries, Ethan.”

Of course, he didn’t believe you and stayed cautious as he took Rose into his arms, lowering his
gun in the process.

A shivering exhale and then a small smile tugged on Ethan’s lips. “My little Rose. Oh, I love you
so much.”
You watched the heart-warming reunion with cautious relief, looking over to Karl, who had his
head turned towards what used to be Mother Miranda. It was a strange look on his face, so calm
and yet so terrified at the same time. Almost like he couldn’t believe the monster that had haunted
him for so long was finally gone forever.

Slowly, you made your way over to him, one trembling hand coming up to grab the back of his
neck. He tensed for a split second, coming back from whatever he was thinking about, and looked
at you with an uncertain expression. He was probably assuming you were about to choke him like
he had you earlier, and was prepared to hold still for it, but you didn’t. Gently, you pulled him
down until his forehead was against yours, closing your eyes and just enjoying the warmth you had
missed so much.

With a strangled and tired sigh, he melted against you, wrapping his arms around you so tightly that
his necklaces pressed against your chest uncomfortably. But you let him. There was still fear inside
you, clawing at your mind and telling you to turn your back on Karl and never ever look back.
Every rational thinking person probably would do just that, but once again, you reasoned you had
lost your mind some time ago.

Heisenberg was nowhere near forgiven for what he did, you weren’t that crazy, but you were still
willing to work on it with him. You still longed for a future with him, knowing that given enough
time and more talking between you two, things could work out eventually.

“Alright, everyone!” Chris’s voice reached you and you pulled back from the embrace to look at
him. “We have a bomb placed right at the heart of the Megamycete. Ethan and Rose, you’ll come
with me to chopper one, Heisenberg and Y/N get in chopper two.”

Suddenly, you realized something really important. “Wait! Miranda had Mia Winters in her lab!
Maybe she’s still alive.”

Ethan’s head snapped up from Rose to you. “What?! You’re telling me this now?!”

Karl rolled his eyes. “Wasn’t like we had time for small talk.”

Chris was growing annoyed, interrupting the bickering. “Yes, Mia is waiting in chopper one, we
found her.”

Relief once again washed over Ethan’s features. “I still have my family, thank God.”

“Now, let’s get going everyone!” Chris commanded, fixing Karl and you with a pointed look. “And
you two don’t pull anything sketchy on us.”

And of course, Karl couldn’t let that go. “Oh? Whatever could we even do? It’s not like your
choppers are made from metal, and they’re also flying through some clouds.”

Chris visibly tensed up at the, for Karl’s standards, light-hearted threats, gripping his gun tightly.
You slapped Karl’s chest with an exhausted groan.

“Don’t worry, Chris. I’ll make sure he’ll behave.”

Heisenberg had some choice words about that sentence, but one more look from you shut him up, if
reluctantly. Redfield didn’t seem quite convinced but having witnessed the influence you had on
the mad engineer, he apparently decided this would be the best way of action. He led you three
(well, four if you counted Rose) to the waiting choppers, pointing at which is which so you could
get in. Karl walked in first, giving you the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Winters family
reunion.

As expected, you weren’t alone with a pilot in the chopper. Armed guards with the familiar
Umbrella symbol attached to their uniforms waiting for you to enter, heavily armed of course. But
their stands were less tense than the ones you saw before. You supposed Chris must’ve told them to
be a bit more relaxed than normally, as you were sure you had a bit of trust build between you two.

A man guided Karl and you to the very back of the chopper, where two simple cots were positioned
against the wall, gesturing for you to take a seat. Heisenberg let himself drop onto the first one, just
as the chopper started to lift into the air, making you stumble momentarily. Karl was quick to grab
you for stabilization, taking his hand away quickly afterwards, once more terrified to overstep.

Slowly, you sat down on the other cot, trying to relax against the wall behind you but finding it
uncomfortable because of the vibrations rattling through it. The absolutely huge explosion you then
heard from outside didn’t make it any better. For a moment, you contemplated about getting up and
see the destruction, but you didn’t.

One, because you were more tired than you ever have been before. And two, because you couldn’t
bear the sight of the place you called a home for four years to crumble into dust. Yes, you were
forced to stay there, and of course, you hated it.

But still, the factory was a place that held many memories to you, good and bad ones. It was the
home you shared with the love of your crazy life.

You always admired the beauty of castle Dimitrescu, the way that walking through the pristine halls
always made you feel like a princess in a fairy tale, despite the danger it held.

You loved the times you’ve spent at the reservoir with Moreau, the way he talked to you with so
much happiness after finally having someone in his life that gave a shit about what he said.

You always liked it when Donna and Angie would invite you to their home, sometimes for a tea
party, and sometimes just to have a friend at their side.

You also couldn’t forget the normal people that lived in the village, people who worshipped an
unkind Goddess but had a good heart deep down.

They were all gone now, along with the whole area. But at least the Megamycete was blown to
snideries as well.

“Hey, are you okay?” Karl asked after some time, having been silently studying you for some time
now.

You met his gaze with a smile that didn’t reach your eyes. “I don’t know.”

He pursed his lips slightly and nodded. “Can I do something? I’m…not sure if you want me close
right now, but…”

You sighed, telling yourself that this day was crazy enough and some cuddling won’t make it any
worse. You got up and moved the cot around, gently kicking Karl’s legs out of the way until he got
the hint. As he laid down on his cot, you positioned yours next to his, creating something that was
 similarly sized like your bed used to be. Karl was considerate enough to remove his necklaces,
opening his arms for you and you cuddled up to him. Your head rested over his chest, listening to
his heartbeat.

You felt the gaze of the other people on your back but ignored them. You were tired and wanted to
just, for a few moments, forget what happened today. Karl curled around your body a little,
carefully nuzzling against your hair, almost like he hoped you wouldn’t notice. You let him, closing
your eyes and letting sleep pull you under.

Chapter End Notes

Don't worry, the story isn't over yet!

 Welcome
Chapter Notes

Hey guys! So glad you're still enjoying the story! Just a little info: I have some nightshifts
coming up and I'll post the Chapters earlier than usual so I can sleep during the day. I'll post
them when it's around 8 am in my country, which is like 1 am CST, 7 am in the UK or 4 pm in
Australia, just so you get an idea at around what time I'll be posting.

Sleep had taken you into its warm embrace for quite some time, which really shouldn’t be
surprising given what traumas the day had caused. Yet, when you woke up, you didn’t feel as rested
as you hoped you would.

For the first few moments of your wakefulness, you felt like everything had been a long and
terrible dream. But then you began to take in your surroundings and felt a shiver of fear creep down
your spine, as you didn’t recognize the room you were in.

It wasn’t the chopper you had fallen asleep in, and you weren’t laying on the cot with Karl either.
The lights were dimmed to a comfortable and warm setting, and you slowly sat up on the
unfamiliar bed you found yourself in.

You let your gaze wander over the new space; A simple and almost sterile room, smooth grey walls
and floors and two doors. One you assumed let to a bathroom, the other was probably the way out.
As for furniture, besides the bed you were on, there was only one lonely wooden table sitting in a
corner against the wall, not even chairs to accompany it. The room looked like it was never meant
to be lived in and that gave you a sense of creepiness.

You looked down at yourself next, your clothes tattered and ripped, dyed a deep red-brown from
blood and dirt. The bed you’ve slept in was surprisingly clean despite that.

Soft snoring alerted you of another presence in the room with you and you spotted the slumped
figure of Heisenberg sitting in a corner, the one farthest from the bed. His left leg was straightened
out along the floor while his right one was bend upwards with his knee leaning against the wall. His
arms hung slackly at his sides, his head dipped forward so his chin was almost resting on his chest.
Without his hat to hold them back, his hair was falling like chaotic waves around his features. He
was still wearing his absolutely ruined attire, cut to shreds and also covered in blood and dirt.

The picture brought a frown to your face. The bed wasn’t as big as the one you used to share in the
factory, but there was still enough space for two people to lie in relatively comfortably. So, why
was he sleeping in a corner? Was he afraid to get near you? Well, with so much uncertainty
surrounding your relationship, you couldn’t really blame him for feeling this way.

You hissed as you slid over the mattress to reach the edge, your muscles protesting having to move.
While the Cadou had healed you, it couldn’t let the stress of these last few days just pass like the
pain. Despite that, you got up and tiptoed over to Karl, going down to your knees in front of him.
You didn’t want to startle him, so you softly laid your hand against his cheek, stroking your thumb
over the bone there. “Karl, wake up.”

His body jerked slightly at the touch, some grumbling following as he started to wake up. Once he
realized that someone was touching him, he jerked his head back as a reflex and hit it against the
wall behind him. You let your hand fall away.

He hissed, one hand reaching up to rub over the sore spot before finally blinking his eyes open. For
the first few beats, he looked confused, taking in his surroundings and yourself in front of him with
knitted brows before the memories caught up to him.

“Hey…” Karl mumbled, voice rough and deep from his sleep.

A small smile came over your lips. “Hey…What are you doing sleeping on the floor?”

Heisenberg’s eyes widened, his voice shaking a little as he answered you. “These eh, people, they
put us in the same room and I…I didn’t want to, you know, impose.”

You nodded with a tired exhale, feeling warmth spread through your body as he considered your
feelings on the matter before thinking about his own comfort.

“Where are we, exactly?”

Karl stretched his limps a little, obviously trying to avoid touching you in any way while doing so.
“Don’t know. I’m assuming some kind of underground lab or bunker or something Umbrella has
scattered around the globe. I just know they made sure I couldn’t do anything while in here.”

He wasn’t happy about that, which was understandable, given his hate for not having control over
situations he found himself in. You took a closer look around the room, noticing that the bed you
slept in was completely made from wood and the doors didn’t seem to be quite like metal either.
Umbrella obviously made sure Karl couldn’t get his hands on any kind of metal.

You reached up to feel your cloud crown, sighing with relief when you found it to be there still. It
was unfair to prohibit Karl from using his powers while you still had yours, you thought, but then
again; Umbrella probably did so because between Heisenberg and you, it was clear which one held
more danger to them. You also couldn’t figure out a way Umbrella could stop your powers, because
unlike Karl, who had to find the metal to use, you could always just create your clouds.

“What happened after I fell asleep?” You asked, focusing back on Karl.

“Well, I couldn’t sleep with all these people staring all the fucking time.” He growled annoyedly,
exhaling tiredly afterwards. “No idea if we’re even in Romania still. But once we landed and they
wanted to wake you up I eh…Kinda pissed them off. Told them to fuck off and not to touch you.
We compromised on me carrying you and for me to shut up and just walk.”

“So, is this like our new home?” You asked, distaste pulling on your features.

“Guess so.” He shrugged. “At least for some time now. Probably until Redfield decides we’re
compliant enough to get some freedom.”

That wasn’t the best kind of news, but at least Karl and you were still alive and Miranda anything
else but. You felt the need to vocalize that victory.
“We fucking killed Mother Miranda.”

Karl chuckled quietly. “I know, almost can’t believe it.”

“I always had faith in you.” You confessed, though it was never really a secret. “I knew we would
get out of her clutches.”

“I’m happy that we made it.” He put extra emphasis on the “we”, testing the waters a little instead
of just blatantly saying he’s glad his murder attempt failed.

It created a segue for you to approach the big topic. “How about we get comfortable on the bed and
talk, hmm?”

Karl’s body instantly tensed up, but he nodded nonetheless, almost reluctantly pushing himself up
against the wall and back to his feet. You too rose up from your position, silently walking to the bed
and climbing back on. You settled against the headboard, pulling your knees to your chest and
looking over at Karl, who still stood where you had left him.

He met your gaze and exhaled audibly before approaching the bed, kicking off his boots and what
remained of his coat, then laying down on his back across the end of the bed, once again as far
away from you as possible. He looked uncomfortable, his legs dangling off the edge of the bed as
he had laid down across the short side of the mattress.

You tilted your head, thinking about offering him a chance to get more comfortable but ultimately
letting it go. If Karl felt the need for space right now, then he should have that. Silence followed,
both of you waiting to see if the other might start the heavy conversation first, until you decided to
be the bigger person.

“The first thing I want to say is that I’m sorry.” Already, your voice was wavering with emotions,
despite it only being the first sentence. “What I said after your talk with Ethan, it was…pretty
hurtful. I’m still mad at you for thinking about using Rose, but to say you are just like Miranda
went too far. I can understand how that had upset you so much, but I didn’t expect you to go
nuclear like that.”

Karl was looking up at the ceiling, taking in your words before asking about the things he dreaded
most. “Do you hate me? Are you scared of me?”

The fact that you had to pause and really think about that was already telling. “No, I don’t think I
hate you, or at least not all of you. There are certain aspects of our dealings that we need to figure
out, that’s for sure. And as for scared…Yes and no.”

He turned his head towards you. “What do you mean yes and no? Doesn’t seem like multiple
choice to me.”

You had to mull your response over a few times in your head, to make sure the words came out
correctly. “I mean, when I see you like this, I’m not scared. I see the man I’ve fallen in love with,
that made me very happy in times when I couldn’t have done that on my own.”

You paused, another sigh leaving you. “But, I also still feel this…phantom touch of your hand
around my throat and…that is terrifying. I can’t just forgive and forget what you did to me, even if
I want to. That blind rage inside you, that’s the side of you that scares me.”
Karl acknowledged your response with a quiet hum, nodding and finding a spot on the covers that
he could focus on. “I already told you that I’m sorry, but I’ll say it again and for the rest of my life.
What you said about me and Mother Miranda, the similarities, we both know it was true. I guess I
just…didn’t expect you to say it like that, or to point it out at all. And it hurt so much to hear that,
that I thought anything would be better than feeling like this.”

He closed his eyes, willing unwanted emotions back down. “I hoped that once I killed you, I would
feel better and I know thinking like that is fucked up. I guess that was similar to what I wanted to
do to Mother Miranda, get revenge on the person that hurt me. I got so lost in my rage that I didn’t
stop to consider what your death actually meant for me. I only realized how much I fucked up when
I let you go and it was too late.”

Hesitantly, he opened his eyes and locked them with yours. “Guess that plan doesn’t work when
you actually love the person.”

“…It feels nice to hear you say it.” You confessed with a whisper, as if saying that during such an
important talk was outrageous.

It took him a second to realize what you meant and once he did, a light blush covered his cheeks
and he turned his head back to stare at the ceiling again.

“Can I ask why it took you so long to say it back?” The question was on your tongue for far longer
than just today. “I mean, maybe I assumed wrong before, but I always thought you loved me back.”

“Of course I loved you way before today.” He admitted without hesitation, the light blush turning
into a deep crimson. “It’s just really hard for me to say it. Never said it to another person before,
aside from my parents. I was, and still am, struggling with being vulnerable, and I thought once I
said those three words it would be over for me. Completely bared open and with that, ready to be
torn apart.”

“Are you afraid of me?” You returned his earlier question back at him.

Karl also had to pause to consider the question. “I…think sometimes I am.”

It was a curious revelation about you two; While you were afraid of the physical pain he could
inflict on you, he was scared of the emotional hurt you could inflict on him. It both had their
reasons, the fact that you used his trauma against him and in turn how he had tried to kill you being
the main one.

Karl sucked in a breath through his teeth and sat up, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at
the ground. Whatever he wanted to say next, it was something that scared him, you could tell.

“Do you still want to be with me?”

Ah, the big question. Was what happened today too much to bear? In many ways, it was. So much
happened in just 24 hours.

You set Lycans loose on a whole village, dooming everyone that lived there.

Mother Miranda broke a child into pieces and gave them away to the Lords.
Ethan Winters came and fucked over the whole place, killing Lady Alcina Dimitrescu, Lady Donna
Beneviento and Lord Salvatore Moreau.

Karl and you had the biggest argument that could’ve possibly happened.

You nearly got killed by the man you loved.

Together with said man and Ethan, you killed the woman responsible for everything to begin with.

And now you were under the protection and control of the Umbrella Corporation, stuck in a new
environment that you didn’t know anything about. Everything that had built up your life for the
past fours years was gone and you were at a blank page in the book of your life.

No, not everything was gone, you realized. Two things still remained: Your powers and Karl. And
you couldn’t bring yourself to lose that too, even if it meant some hard work was ahead of you.

“Yes, I want to be with you.” You answered calmly, smiling a little when Karl turned his head in
surprise. “Under the condition that we work on our issues. No more keeping secrets, no more
hurt…That is if you want that as well.”

After all, the choice wasn’t just up to you. Karl was hurt as well, and he had every right to walk
away from the relationship, though it didn’t seem like he wanted to. But you had to make sure.

“Goddamn it, I fucking want to stay with you.” He answered with pained honesty, a conflict
happening inside him. “But I also want you to be happy, and after today, I just…what if I mess up
again? I-I don’t want to hurt you like I did today ever again.”

“Then you won’t.” You responded, trying to reassure him. “Neither of us wants to hurt the other
any more than we already did. I believe that we can make this work, if we both stick together.”

Karl took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before slowly exhaling. “Okay, yeah, we can
do this.”

You smiled encouragingly, tapping the spot beside you. “If you’re comfortable with it, you could
come up here too.”

He returned the smile, even if it didn’t quite reach his eyes, he was probably thinking this was too
good to be true. Slowly, as if to give you time to change your mind, he crawled up the bed,
propping himself against the wall just like you. You could tell he was making sure to not touch you
still, so you did him the favour of taking the first step, leaning your head against his shoulder.

“I think it would be good if we set some boundaries for now.” You said, enjoying how Karl started
to relax against your simple touch. “Once we feel more comfortable with each other again, we
could evaluate them, adjust them to our current needs.”

“I think that isn’t a bad idea.” He agreed, gathering some courage to gently grab your hand.

You stayed silent for a few minutes, both of you trying to sort out your feelings and needs and
making sense of your emotional states. Sometimes during the quietness, his thumb would stroke
over the back of your hand, a loving gesture he probably did without noticing. Without saying
anything, you two felt like you were ready at the same time, your head lifting from his shoulder so
you could make and hold eye contact.
“Okay. Do you want me to start?” You asked, waiting for him to nod before listing your points.

“I get the feeling this is the same for you, but for me, sex is completely off the table for now. I just
can’t share that intimacy with you yet. And also…please don’t put your hands anywhere near my
neck, even when you mean it playfully, or ask for permission first. And I want to be honest with
you, if I ever see that kind of outburst from you again, this is over for me. I just need you to be
calmer around me, be gentle with me.”

Heisenberg nodded, smiling apologetically. “I will. And if I overstep, please just fucking punch me
or something.”

“What about you?” You pried carefully, his light joking relaxing you further, and his answer was
not too surprising to you.

“I agree with the sex thing, that’s something that has to wait until we’re better again. And for me
specifically I just…No more talking about my past, or about the village or Mother Miranda unless
we have to. I need to figure some shit out on my own and being reminded about it all is just too
much right now. I want to work on myself, I need to get my feelings under control, the good and
the bad ones.”

You hummed to acknowledge his wishes, just a tiny bit relieved to hear he wanted to work on his
issues, another important question forming on your tongue.

“How do you feel about other showings of love? Hugs, kisses and the like?”

He faltered a little, growing anxious again. “I-I mean if you’re comfortable then-“

You interrupted him sharply. “I asked about you.”

A breathy laugh escaped him as you pointed that out, almost reluctantly was he answering. “Yes, I
love it all. Could hug and kiss you all day long if it were up to me.”

“Then we’re in agreement on that. I also love being affectionate with you.” You grinned, your eyes
switching from his own to his lips for a second.

Karl caught the switch on your attention, his free hand reaching up and stopping mid-air as he
remembered.

“Can I touch your cheek?”

Tears came to your eyes as he said that, a flash of warmth spreading over you as he respected your
wishes. You nodded and his rough hand touched your skin with care as he cradled your cheek in the
palm of his hand. You both leaned forward, lips meeting for the first time after what felt like ages
of being apart, even if it was only a few hours. Your intertwined fingers twitched against each other
and you slowly moved down the wall, with him following you, until you were laying comfortably
on the bed, lips never breaking apart. He moved closer to your body, craving the comfort you
provided, until your chests were flush against each other and your legs tangled together.

You pulled away just enough to meet his eyes again, whispering longingly. “I love you.”

Karl’s eyes shimmered with happiness at hearing those words again. “I love you too.”
 Doctor
Chapter Notes

TW: Needles, Blood being drawn, medical stuff.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

One week later

The first week being under Umbrella’s care was surprisingly uneventful. Karl and you were mostly
left alone during that time, only seeing an Umbrella employee every few hours that would bring
today's breakfast, lunch or dinner, depending on the time they showed up. They have given you
new clothes, simple grey and blue sweatpants and t-shirts without any kind of imagery to make
them even remotely fashionable or interesting.

Any time they’d enter the room, they’d make it painfully obvious that they made sure they had no
kind of metal on or near them, which was pissing off Karl immensely. Of course, he understood
why they did that, to make sure he couldn’t use his powers, but being singled out from the two of
you was upsetting him.

Every time the employee left the room again, you’d spend the next hour talking to Karl and trying
to take his mind off things, which was increasingly hard to do as the days grew more and more
boring. Until finally, something new happened today.

Karl and you were sleepily cuddling in bed, the boredom this new life provided you making it
harder and harder to stay awake. You were snuggled up to his side, one arm was thrown over his
chest and one leg over his hips. Your other hand was stretched upwards so you could idly play with
his hair, the angle a little uncomfortable. He had his nose buried on your hair, inhaling your scent
with soft hums leaving his throat every few minutes to show his contentment. One of his arms was
curled over your waist, making sure to keep you close.

You were about to drift off for a nap for real when you heard the lock of the door click and turn.
Karl heard it too, lifting his head and blinking away the tiredness, reluctantly letting you turn your
body towards the door.

It pushed open and none other than Chris Redfield walked in, dressed almost casually but still
armed with a few weapons around his waist.

“Heisenberg, Y/N. Come with me.”

You rolled your eyes at him. “Hello to you too, Chris.”

Despite the rudeness, you pushed yourself up and slipped to the edge of the bed. Karl didn’t move
an inch, just daringly keeping eye contact with Chris.

“You too, Heisenberg.” Chris repeated, setting his jaw as his patience ran thin.
“Or what?” Karl challenged without hesitation.

Chris took on that challenge with a smug smirk. “Or we’ll make you. It’s not like you can do much
without any metal.”

A deep scowl appeared over Karl’s features at the reminder of the loss of control and you took that
moment to step in before these two fight for real.

“Could you two just not?”

Both men’s attention snapped back to you, as if suddenly remembering you were there as well.

Chris huffed, turning to the open door. “Y/N, put a muzzle on him or I’ll do it. Now get going.”

Karl was about to fucking lose it and you turned around to face him, taking his face in your hands.

“Just ignore it, Karl. Remember, if we comply, then we’ll get out of here sooner rather than later.”

Burning hatred was still visible in his eyes, but he nodded, obviously biting his tongue to avoid
more insults from spilling. You rewarded him with a kiss before pulling away and getting up. Karl
did the same, grabbing your hand without another thought before walking off with you towards
Chris.

Redfield seemed a little surprised at the attitude change, but didn’t say anything, walking through
the long hallway outside your room. It was the first time you left the place, and it certainly sparked
some interest. The walls were blank, with the exception of some doors that probably led to more
rooms like your own, perhaps with more bioweapons locked inside.

It did look prison-like, you had to admit, and that didn’t exactly put you at ease. You hoped Chris
recognized the part Karl and you played in defeating Mother Miranda and wouldn’t just lock you
two in here forever.

After a minute or two of walking, Chris led you into a room that was definitely hospital-like.
White-tiled walls and a pristine grew floor, clean hospital beds pushed to the sides, some X-Ray
pictures decorating the walls, some curtains at the far back and various medical equipment
scattered about.

A woman in a white coat, presumably a doctor, was waiting for you alongside a nurse. They looked
kind but nervous, even if the doctor hid it a little better. You assumed it was because of you, being
the only one that still held some power, but then you found the real reason. The room was filled
with metal.

The equipment, scalpels and whatever else they needed in rooms like these were all made from
metal, apparently they couldn’t find anything suitable to replace them with. Karl noticed too, a little
shiver of temptation running through his body that you could feel at your joined hands.

Chris was fast to intervene. “Don’t even think about it, Heisenberg. One fucking wrong move and
I’ll hurt her.”

You paused at first, confused why he wanted to hurt you instead of Karl, until your partner froze
where he was. One look at his face was enough to tell you Chris had an iron grip on him now. Karl
wasn’t afraid of Chris shooting or hurting him, but he would never let harm come to you again.
The tense moment was interrupted by the doctor, who approached the two of you with a smile.

“Hello, I am Dr. Lange.”

Instantly Karl’s attention was on her, a weird look of both surprise and happiness flashing over his
face. “You’re German?”

“Yes, I am.” She replied calmly. “We thought perhaps it could make this more comfortable for
you.”

Just a flare of jealousy overcame you, not liking that Karl liked the other woman, but you pushed it
away for now. “Make what more comfortable? Why are we here?”

“We want to do a general medical check on you two, want to see what exactly we’re working with
and if we have to be worried about anything.” Chris explained, Karl’s reaction to the doctor enough
for him to relax a little.

“Now, if Y/N could please follow me behind the curtain so we may begin.” The doctor graciously
waved you in the direction of the curtain, but Karl’s grip on you tightened.

He fixed the doctor with a heated gaze. “Wenn Sie ihr auch nur etwas weh tun, bringe ich Sie um.”
(“If you hurt her even a little bit, I will kill you.”)

Her answering smile to whatever he said kind of annoyed you.

“Ich verspreche, dass Ihre Frau in guten Händen ist.” (“I promise, your wife is in good hands.”)

Karl huffed half a laugh at her reply, and you had to remember to ask him what she said later. He
let go of your hand and pressed a kiss to your cheek before stepping away and letting you walk
behind the curtain.

The nurse drew the curtains closed and guided you to take a seat on the examination table. “Alright,
I need to draw some blood first.”

You held out your arm for her, letting her put a tourniquet around your arm just above the hollow of
your elbow. She tightened it and let her fingertips dance across your skin, deeply concentrated until
she found a vein, mentally writing the position down before letting the pressure of the tourniquet
release. She disinfected her hands and then your skin, readying some needles and blood tubes,
making sure everything was close by as she tightened the tourniquet once more and put on some
medical gloves. Her hand was unwavering as she guided the needle into your vein, the slight sting
of the needle piercing your skin making you wince. She attached the first blood tube, letting the
dark liquid fill it and then exchanging it for the next. Once she had three tubes full, she opened the
tourniquet with one hand, removed the needle and pressed a cotton swap to the puncture site.

It all happened so fast that you felt a sense of ease wash over you, now sure these people were
professionals and had done this stuff more than a few times. While the nurse carried your blood off
somewhere, Dr. Lange approached you with a clipboard.

“Alright, now let’s get through some questions. Any kind of pain at the moment?”

“No, the bug in my chest takes care of that.”

“Regular bowel movements?”

Okay, certainly didn’t expect that sort of question already. “Eh, yes?”

“Any increased heart rate or shortness of breath?” She asked along, not faced one bit with the
awkwardness.

“No, everything is good.”

She took some notes before putting the board down. “That’s good to hear, could you please
undress?”

That was a painful reminder of your time when you first got to the village, Karl’s daily
examinations over your healing process.

Dr. Lange gave you an understanding smile. “I know this is very personal, but I promise you I’ll be
quick about it. And your husband out there wouldn’t let me harm you anyway.”

“My husband?” You asked perplexed, the surprise in that title for Karl enough for you to calm
down and start removing your clothes.

“Oh, was I wrong to assume that?” She asked with an apologetic look. “When I called you his wife
earlier, he didn’t seem faced at all.”

A smile tugged at your lips as you presented her with your naked form. “He wasn’t?”

Dr. Lange didn’t waste another second to start with the exam, her cold stethoscope pressing against
the skin of your chest to hear your heartbeat. She didn’t say anything, focused on hearing what was
happening inside you. She listened to the noises your Cadou made, what your breathing sounded
like and even if your blood flowed as it should through your carotid artery.

“Well, besides that parasite inside you, your body seems to be intact.” She concluded, taking a few
more notes and letting you get dressed again. “It is important that if you have any health issues, that
you tell us about it.”

You nodded, hesitantly meeting her eyes. “Hey doc, when you do all this stuff with Karl, please be
careful. He’s been through a lot.”

She nodded in understanding, pulling the curtains back and letting you step back out. Karl was
lounging in a chair, idly fiddling around with a pen he had found somewhere while Chris watched
him. He jumped up from his seat once he saw you, letting his eyes roam over your body in an
attempt to spot any sort of injury.

“Are you okay?”

You grinned at his worries, leaning up to kiss him softly. “I’m all good. Now go with Dr. Lange so
we can get back to our room soon.”

“Herr Heisenberg, kommen Sie mit mir.” (“Mr. Heisenberg, follow me.”) Said woman told him,
waving Karl over to her.

He complied, if only reluctantly. You sat down in the same chair Karl sat in before, a bad feeling
settling in your stomach once he disappeared behind the curtain.

Chris studied that look on your face suspiciously. “What is it?”

“Just a bad intuition I guess. Karl has seen a lot, I’m not sure if-“

As if on cue, Karl started yelling. “Get that fucking shit away from me!”

It was followed by a terrified scream of the nurse and you jumped up, bolting at the curtain with
Chris close behind and pulling it aside.

Both the nurse and Dr. Lange were pinned in place with needles pointed at their bodies, both not
even daring to breathe properly. Karl had pushed himself against the wall, as far away from them as
possible, face twisted in rage.

Chris instantly lifted a gun and pointed it at you. “Heisenberg, stop right fucking now or I’m
pulling the trigger!”

Karl’s attention switched between you and Chris, conflicted and getting pulled further and further
into panic. You knew that look on him, yes he was mad, but that anger wasn’t coming from hatred.
It was coming from fear.

“Chris, take the gun away.” Your voice was stern but calm. “I can calm him down.”

Redfield did as you asked, trusting that ability of yours and lowering his gun slowly but keeping his
eyes pointed at Karl. You walked around the terrified medical staff, movements careful and
calculated as you approached Heisenberg.

He was panting heavily, eyes focused entirely on you and no longer on the others, but his hold over
the needles never wavered. He never clarified the details of Miranda’s experiments on him, but it
wasn’t far fetched to assume it involved a lot of needles and injections of some kind.

“It’s okay, Karl.” You whispered, sitting down next to him on the table. “They’re not like Mother
Miranda. I won’t let what happened to you repeat itself.”

You forced his attention to stay on you by grabbing his face in a gentle hold. “Now, put the needles
down.”

It took him a moment, but eventually, he listened and let the needles float over to the tray they
came from. Dr. Lange and the nurse relaxed with a relieved sigh. You pulled him closer, putting his
head down to your chest so he could hide his pain from the other people in the room with you.

“They want to draw some blood, love.” You whispered to his ear, your fingers combing through his
hair. “Just focus on me. Think of us on a holiday, swimming in the ocean…”

As you talked, you gave a pointed look to the nurse, telling her without words to try it again. You
didn’t want to force Karl into having to submit to the procedure, but you also saw the importance of
getting everything checked out. The nurse was cautious, to say the least, when she approached
again, shakily touching Karl’s wrist to pull his arm towards her.

As expected, he tensed up even more, so you pressed his face harder against your body, continuing
talking to distract him.

“I’m sure you have ideas about how to furnish our house in the future. I do, I think it will look
lovely if you make some metal figurines that we could display on a shelf, like the little iron steed
you made me.”
The nurse was hesitating to pierce Karl’s skin with the needle, her nerves getting the better of her.
You were about to demand she get on with it, the suspension only making the situation worse, when
Karl flexed his fingers and forced the needle in her hand to puncture the vein himself. He hissed
and went rigid, panting heavily but holding his arm as still as he possibly could.

“Get fucking on with it before I fucking lose it!”

That got the nurse to spring into action, quickly putting the first blood tube behind the needle and
filling it. Once the other two were filled as well, she pulled the needle out and pressed the cotton
swap on the puncture site. She was terrified of Karl, obviously, so you did her the favour of
pressing the swap down for her so she could retreat.

“It’s over.” You informed him, pressing a kiss to his sweaty forehead. “I’m proud of you, you did
so well.”

You took one glance at Chris and were surprised to see a look of sympathy on him. You were glad
Karl couldn’t see it, because he’d explode at the man’s face in outrage. He didn’t like to be seen as
weak, like a simple child that was afraid of some needles. Luckily, it seemed like Chris understood
that as well, as he replaced the look on his face with his usual seriousness when Karl decided he
was ready to leave your embrace.

“You okay?” You asked worriedly.

“Y-Yeah…” He responded with an exhausted exhale. “Just get this shit over with.”

Dr. Lange seemed to realize he was talking to her more than you and approached, more relaxed
again. “Okay, Y/N would you mind stepping out again?”

But Karl immediately grabbed onto your arm. “No, she’s staying.”

“I do think that would be beneficial.” Chris told her too, so she accepted with a shrug.

The rest of the exam was uneventful, with the exception of Karl’s voice getting a little more hushed
as the minutes ticked by, like he was ashamed of his outburst earlier. Maybe he really was, it was
hard to tell.

Dr. Lange informed you that they’d talk to you two once the results of your blood work came it and
that they might do some X-Rays later on, but if you were being honest, you only followed her
words half-heartedly. You wanted to just get back to the boredom of your room and make Karl
forget what happened today.

The walk back to your room was quiet, Chris once again walking in the front and guiding you
around the place. He opened the door to your room and let you step inside. You assumed that was
it, but Chris had some gifts with him.

“Heisenberg.” He addressed the other man, searching through his pockets until he pulled out a
familiar package.

Chris threw the Cuban cigars in Heisenberg’s direction, who caught them and looked them over in
his hand with light confusion.
 “According to our data, you smoke that stuff, don’t you?” Chris confirmed with him, throwing
something else for him to catch afterwards.

Karl looked down at the matches with an annoyed frown. “Oh come on, you don’t even wanna give
me a damn lighter?”

Chris ignored him skilfully, pulling out a magazine and handing it to you. “Those are our
safehouses, they’re scattered around the globe. Choose one and then we can start getting the
paperwork ready to get you to your new and protected home.”

Karl had lit a cigar, the familiar smell surrounding you and it brought a certain comfort to you.

He grinned around it, voice teasing. “Don’t tell me you’re starting to like us.”

Chris scoffed and turned with a roll of his eyes. “Don’t get fucking cooky, you knock-off
Magneto.”

The door closed behind him, and Karl looked at you in confusion. “Knock-off Magneto? What’s
that supposed to mean?”

You laughed, flashes of your life before the village coming to your mind as you waved him off.
“Don’t worry about it.”

“Hey, could you at least tell me if I should be insulted or not?” Karl huffed, puffing some smoke
past his lips and at your direction.

Ignoring him, because it was way too funny not to, you pulled his attention to the magazine. “Come
on, let’s look through our options.”

Chapter End Notes

Two of my Heisenberg headcanons:

1. He's deeply afraid of needles and injections in general, because they remind him of
Miranda's experiments.
2. He has a deep connection to his German roots, just something he could hold on to from his
heritage that Miranda didn’t take away from him.
 Moving In
Chapter Notes

I can't express the amount of gratitude I have for every one of you enough! Thank you so
much for all the Kudos, Hits and comments!

Also please let your imagination flow in this chapter and really embrace what you picture your
shared home with Heisenberg is like☺

Six months later

Half a fucking year of waiting in painful boredom and endless bureaucracy finally came to an end
as Karl and you were allowed to move into your new house.

It had taken you two a while to decide, as not only was the house itself an important aspect, but
also its location or more accurately the country. There was a rather big range of options as well, but
you ultimately made a decision.

Karl and you were sitting next to each other in the backseat of a car, with Chris Redfield next to
you and a driver in the front. You two were cuddling in excited silence, a certain giddiness having
settled in your insides as soon as you woke up this morning. One plane flight later and now all that
stood between you and your new life of a certain independence was a car ride. You couldn’t wait to
be alone with Karl in your new home.

There wasn’t really anything to pack, Karl and you didn’t take anything with you when you left the
village, so everything that was at the house was brand new. As a sort of reward for the part you two
had in the destruction of Mother Miranda, the Umbrella Corporation allowed you to pick and
choose as much furniture as you wanted. All that was left to do was build everything together and
arrange it as you wanted.

Originally, Umbrella would’ve done that as well, but Karl had insisted he wanted to do that all by
himself, or maybe allow you to help him with it. It meant less work for Umbrella, so they didn’t
argue with him about it.

“Does one of you know how to operate a cell phone?” Chris randomly asked out of nowhere,
ending the comfortable silence.

“…If the technology hasn’t changed too much in the last five years?” You replied questioningly.

“So no.” He chuckled, pulling out two of these devices and handing them over to you. “These are
for each of you, so you can call Umbrella if something comes up.”

Karl squinted at the bright screen with a slight sneer. “Urgh, you expect us to figure this shit out on
our own or…?”

“You’re a genius, last I heard.” Chris shrugged mockingly. “You always say so yourself.”
Karl was about to retort with something snarky, but Chris continued on. “The phones are altered,
allowing you to browse the internet and all that, but we monitor it closely. Remember that there is
no contact allowed with outsiders.”

“As if we have anyone to talk to besides you.” You rolled your eyes, unlocking the phone and idly
scrolling through it.

Some of the features you still remembered from your life before the village, but there was still
much to learn. But you’d figure it out.

“Which brings me to the next point.” Chris grabbed your phone and showed you your contacts,
only three numbers in there:

Umbrella Headquarters
Chris Redfield
The ugly one

You stared at the last one in confusion. “Who the fuck is that?”

“Oh my fucking God, Chris!” Karl hissed suddenly, holding out his own phone, having followed
the steps Chris had taken to get to his contacts. “You serious?!”

The first two numbers were the same, but the third contact said “the cute one” and it took you a
second to realize that Chris had saved each other’s numbers on the devices. “The ugly one” then,
meant it was Karl.

You busted out laughing, Chris snickering to himself while Karl lost his shit, trying to figure out
how he could change the names. When he then started to threaten to pull the whole car apart, Chris
showed some mercy and changed the names to your actual ones, Karl meanwhile grumpily
watching.

The car came to a stop and the driver parked and turned the engine off. The car was locked from
the outside, but something as simple as that could never hold back Heisenberg, who pulled the door
open with his powers and pretty much jumped out.

Chris groaned tiredly and looked at you. “I still don’t see how you can live with that.”

You grinned, a little proud of yourself. “Unlike you, I can keep him in check.”

“Y/N! Get the fuck out of there and come see!” Karl yelled for you, excitement and happiness
filling every word.

You did as he asked, climbing out of the car and smiling at the driver apologetically, who now had
to figure out how to tell his boss why the car door was broken. Karl was grinning up at the house,
such happiness displayed on his whole body that it almost looked like he was glowing in the sun.

The house looked just like the pictures, the outside walls painted in your favourite colour and a
garden surrounding it, a simple fence bordering the greenery. There were no other houses around
for another few kilometres, another safety precaution. It seemed like a dream to finally see it for
yourself and you couldn’t wait to go inside.

Heisenberg adverted his eyes to look at you instead. “We’re home.”

You hugged his side, melting against the heat of his body with a soft sigh. “Yeah, we’re home.”

Chris cleared his throat to get your attention, holding out some keys. “That’s adorable, but I’m
afraid I can’t stay longer.”

You tilted your head, a little disappointed. “What? You’re just going to leave us be?”

“’Course not.” He replied with a small scoff. “There are cameras all around the property and the
front door and the windows have sensors. We’ll know instantly when you leave the house and will
contact you if you haven’t informed us of your leave beforehand.”

Right, still under surveillance, but at least not inside. “Will you come visit us?”

Karl grumbled under his breath. “Let’s hope not.”

“Random security check-ins, if that’s what you mean.” Chris answered, crossing his arms over his
chest. “But never forget that Umbrella has their eyes on you. And if you give us any reason to
believe you wanna pull some sort of escape, we’ll drag you back to the bunker.”

“Just give us the damn keys, asshole.” Karl pulled away from you and snatched the keys out of
Chris’s hand, walking towards the front door.

You shock your head in disagreement of this behaviour, locking eyes with Chris again. “Thank you
for everything, Chris. We couldn’t have this life if it weren’t for you.”

Chris gave you a sly grin. “Tell that to your man over there, could use some manners slapped into
him.”

You rolled your eyes with a light smile. “Shut up.”

He waved you off towards the house. “Just go already.”

You waved a little goodbye, hesitating for just a moment. “Hey Chris…If you see the Winters, tell
them I hope they’re doing well.”

You never saw or heard from Ethan, Mia and Rose after the events of the village, which was to be
expected. Karl and you played a big role in the almost destruction of their family, so you didn’t
really think they’d want to have any kind of contact. But you still wanted them to know that you
were still sorry for everything that happened.

“Will do.” Chris replied, a certain gratefulness shimmering in his eyes. “Take care.”

You watched the man climb back into the car and driving off before turning to where Karl was
impatiently waiting for you at the front door.

Karl pursed his lips as you approached him. “You know, I’m starting to think you have a little crush
on Chris.”

“Nah, not really my type.” You replied teasingly, putting your arms around him and resting your
chin on his chest, looking up at his face.

Heisenberg slowly put his arms around you, pressing you closer with a sound close to a purr. “What
is your type then?”
A wicked look crossed your features. “Greasy homeless-looking men.”

While that description didn’t quite fit him anymore, it was still a bit of a sore spot for him.

He gave a disapproving growl, leaning down warningly. “You really want to sleep on the couch
during our first night here?”

It brought some light-hearted laughter to both of you, that got interrupted by your lips meeting his
in a kiss. You loved the way he would melt against you, how he would hum and sigh as he relaxed.

“I love you so much, Karl.”

He shyly nuzzled the tip of his nose against yours. “I love you too. So fucking much.”

You heard the click of the lock beside you, looking over to see Karl using his powers to insert the
key and turn it. You both exchanged a nervous look before you pulled the handle down and pushed
the door open. It was almost surreal as you walked inside, the space strange and yet oddly familiar.

The house itself was big for only two people to live in. The entryway opened up to a big living
room, a dining room connected by a door further back. The dining room transitioned seamlessly
into a kitchen with a little pantry, that had a door for the basement behind it. On the right side of the
entryway was a bathroom, while the left side led to a stairwell to the second floor. The second floor
had another bathroom and three bedrooms.

Not yet wanting to reveal your plan on having children someday to Umbrella, in fear of them trying
to prohibit that, you two told them one would be the master bedroom while the other two would be
for storage and for Karl’s new workstation. The latter of which wasn’t even a lie though.

Karl and you gaped at your new home for about a minute before gathering enough brainpower to
actually go and explore the space. The rooms were filled to the brim with cartons and boxes, some
of them being the furniture, while some were simple facilities like pans or a TV, and others were
filled with equipment for Karl’s workstation. It was a huge task to unpack everything, or so you
thought.

Without a second wasted, Heisenberg used his powers to let everything even remotely metal float
off the ground, ripping through the carton boxes. He started looking the stuff over, inspecting them
almost. You stepped to his side, even after all this time you were still impressed with the extend his
powers had and how strong he was.

With a smile on his lips, he looked you over, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. You had to admit it
was surreal to now live in a normal house, with Karl at your side and your future looking so bright.
Karl was about to sling his arms over your shoulders to pull you closer but remembered himself last
second and put his arm around your waist instead, not wanting to get near your neck. You
appreciated the effort he put into ensuring your comfort.

“Come on, sweetheart, let’s start putting away the stuff.” He said, frowning when you tensed up a
little. “What? Did I upset you?”

He hadn’t noticed the endearment slipping through, he hadn’t used it since leaving the factory that
day. A strange feeling washed over you, almost like a cold hand running over heated skin, not
exactly pleasant but also not too bad. It used to be his standard endearment for you and now you
weren’t sure how to feel about it.
Karl took his arm away and stepped further back, giving you space. “Whatever just happened, I’m
sorry.”

You shook your head slightly, trying to shake the weird feeling off. “No, it’s not you. It’s just, you
called me sweetheart.”

“Oh…You don’t want me to call you that?” He asked a little less anxious.

“It feels weird.” You admitted, not wanting to upset him over a simple word. “I’m not sure how to
feel about it, if I’m being honest.”

Karl, of course, noticed the slight change in your mood, realized you were starting to feel bad for
telling him what you needed and was quick to step in.

“Then I won’t call you that again, unless you decide you’re okay with it.”

His answer to your little conflict was so simple you almost felt like it couldn’t be solved that easily.
“I-I feel ridiculous, it’s just a word.”

“It’s not ridiculous. I’d rather have you tell me when I make you uncomfortable, than you fostering
it inside yourself.” Karl stepped closer, hesitantly, but with a cheery smile to ease you a little.
“Besides, I can call you so many things. Beautiful, darling, my love, my wife…”

You snickered at the last one. “We’re not even married yet.”

“Yet?” Karl repeated, daring to put his hands on your hips, his touch light in case you wanted to
pull away. “Is that a proposal?”

“Perhaps someday.” You sighed, leaning your head against his chest and putting your arm around
him. “Thank you for being so understanding.”

“I try to.” He admitted, kissing the top of your head. “I love you, Y/N. I want you to be happy in
our home.”

“And if we continue to work on us, I will be.” You sighed, pressing a kiss to his clothed chest.
“And I want you to be happy too.”

“Kinda hard not to be when you’re with me.” He said the words like a confession and that made
you warm and fuzzy all over.

“Now, come on.” You said, pulling yourself away from his embrace. “If we don’t start soon, we’ll
have to sleep on the floor tonight.”

The rest of the day was spent building together at least a few of the furniture items and putting
away the household goods, like the pans and other cooking utensils, towels and bedding, etcetera. It
was fascinating to watch Karl hold the different parts of the furniture still while he screwed them
together with his powers, which also proved to be a very fast way of putting everything together.
Safe to say, at the end of the day, you were tired, even with the Cadou inside and not quite done
with everything, but at least most was finished.

You let yourself drop onto your new bed with an exhausted sigh, Karl standing in the doorway and
watching you in amusement. Your cloud was idly floating above you and you settled it into the top
corner of the room for the night.
“What are you looking at?” You asked playfully.

“The most amazing woman I’ve ever met, why?” He replied without having to think about it for a
second.

“Flatterer.” You giggled, trying to hide your blush against the pillows. “Just shut up and join me.”

He accepted that invitation instantly, letting himself drop down next to you, snuggling up to your
back with a soft sigh. Ever since leaving the village, Karl was even more affectionate than he was
before and you enjoyed this casual intimacy immensely. It was like he had a fresh kind of
appreciation for you being in his life, stemming from his gratefulness that you were willing to stay
with him at all.

“Can I kiss the back of your neck?” He asked with a whisper, either because he wasn’t brave
enough to really ask or because of the overall mood.

“No, please don’t.” You denied him, a little shiver running through your body.

Times like these really showed how much Karl was trying to change his ways. Prior to the last day
at the village, you would’ve assumed he would get upset at you denying him something as simple
as this, and you sometimes feared that outcome. But Karl never got angry at you, instead he
accepted your wishes and took notes on where your boundaries lied. Just like he did now: He just
kissed the top of your head instead, nuzzling his nose into your hair and sighing contently.

The fact that he so easily accepted your wishes made you relax instantly, and you were certain Karl
didn’t even notice the little turmoil inside of you. He was just happy to be close to you at all.

Quietness overcame the scene, the warmth of Karl’s body at your back slowly lulling you into
sleep. You were about to drift off when Karl spoke again.

“Thank you.”

The words took a moment to really register in your head, the sleepiness making it a little hard to
focus.

“Thanks for what?”

His hold on you tightened and his voice held a heavy sense of love and longing, but also a twinge
of sorrow.

“Pretty much everything. For pushing your way into my life, for helping me build an army, for
forgiving me for my massive shortcomings, for killing Miranda with me…For making me feel like
I am more than my past.”

He exhaled shakily. “You have no idea how grateful I am for having you in my life.”

Slowly, you turned yourself around in his arms, wanting to see his face. He was looking down at
himself slightly, so his hair fell over his features and covered parts of his face. You already guessed
the reason for that position and it was confirmed once you gently pushed his hair back to reveal the
wetness around his eyes.

You had seen him like this so many times in these past few months, sometimes you forgot just how
much trust and fear went into him opening up like this to you.
You kissed his forehead, listening to his shuddering breaths. “What brought this on, Love?”

He huffed. “Can’t a guy just cry like a baby in front of his woman?”

You tutted disapprovingly. “Stop it, I think it takes a lot of bravery to let yourself be vulnerable like
this.”

Karl didn’t say anything to that, just skilfully avoiding looking into your eyes for too long. So you
pushed on.

“Go on. I can feel there’s more to this.”

Heisenberg was obviously contemplating to back down, but in the end gathered his courage. “I
have something on my mind, had for a while now. But I…I can’t do it alone.”

“Tell me.” You encouraged softly.

“I want to…find my parents house.” His whole body went tense and stiff, a deep-rooted fear behind
every uttered word. “Chris knows, said he’ll look into it.”

Not having expected this, you gaped at him with a worried frown. “Karl, don’t get me wrong, I’ll
help you but…are you sure about this?”

Now he managed to keep his eyes on you. “I need to. I-I want to get back what that bitch took from
me. I want to know where I came from, what my parent's names were, what my childhood home
looked like. I want new memories to push away what she did to me that night.”

You laid your hand against his cheek. “It’s going to hurt, Karl.”

He nodded, leaning his forehead against yours and closing his eyes. “I know. But if you’re with me,
I can take it.”

You didn’t like the sound of that, but ultimately agreed. You could comprehend Karl’s reasoning,
and you knew if he was this determent, he would do it even if you didn’t tag along. And you
couldn’t have that.

Karl would never be alone in that house again, like he was in that night.
 I'm Back Home
Chapter Notes

TW: Childhood trauma, painful memories.

Hope everyone is doing well! Got another question for you all: If after I end this fic, I started a
new one in which I try and give each Lord and Mother Miranda a detailed backstory, would
you read that? It would only be five chapters, but longer ones and probably gonna take a while
to write, but would you be interested? It would be a lot darker than this one.

Two months later

When Chris called and informed Karl and you that he had found the location of Karl’s childhood
home, you had assumed to be faced with either of two things:

1. That the old house still stands but was renovated to the point of being nothing like it was all
those decades ago.
2. Or, that the whole house was torn down and replaced with either just some new land or a new
building altogether.

Given that so much time had passed since the night Karl got abducted, those outcomes were more
than reasonable to believe. What you were actually faced with though, was coming straight from a
horror movie.

You looked at the partly decayed, at some places fallen apart and covered in greenery, building with
mixed feelings. You guessed it was a bit of luck to have the house not being altered, as it meant it
was still the way Karl had to leave it as, aside from what time had done to it.

Apparently, the Heisenberg family were well respected and popular in the town. When the people
found the two adult habitants dead with their only son nowhere to be found, they declared the
house a sanctuary of sorts. The whole town decided to leave the house as it was, meaning
everything was left alone to this day, besides the corpses of course, out of respect to the family that
had been struck by such tragedy. They let nature decide when it’s time for the house to fall.

Karl’s parents were buried in a cemetery not too far from here, which would be the next stop of
today's visitations.

Dark legends circuit around about the house and what happened to the happy family that once
occupied it. They ranged from a double suicide with the child running away, to a terrible serial
killer that had taken the child with him afterwards, never to be seen again. Some people even claim
the site was haunted by the ghosts of the parents, that to this day still look for their lost son.

Said lost son had now returned. Besides the house itself, Chris was also able to dig up some of
Karl’s family history. It turned out, that the Heisenberg factory was once run by Karl’s uncle and
cousin, the brother of his father. Karl could only guess that Miranda had them in their clutches but
wasn’t satisfied with the results she got from them, so she decided she needed another member of
the Heisenberg family. Since Karl took over the factory at a young age, and never saw or heard
from his uncle or cousin, it was safe to assume they were killed by Mother Miranda before she took
him away.

Which brought on another sad revelation, that Karl had already dreaded long ago: He was the last
surviving member of the Heisenberg bloodline.

You adverted your gaze to look at Karl. “Do you want to go in?”

Heisenberg’s POV

I turned to look at Y/N. “Have to, don’t I?”

And she looked back at me with so much love and understanding it almost hurt. “No, you don’t. If
this is too much, we can always turn back.”

But I couldn’t. I was terrified to see what was inside, even more so once I’ve learned it wasn’t
changed in any way since that bitch dragged me off. But I just had to know, I needed that closure
for myself to work on my trauma. Maybe someday, I could find some kind of peace.

“I have to know.” I said firmly.

She nodded and grabbed my hand, putting her soft lips to the back of it. “I’m right here with you.
You’re not alone.”

God, how did I deserve to have her? Well, I didn’t. Still couldn’t figure out how she could stand to
stay with me, but I’m a selfish bastard that can’t let her go. I squeezed her hand once, holding on
tightly and started walking up to the front door.

The old wood was rotten and mouldy, but I could clearly see my Crest on it. The iron steed with the
upturned horseshoe, a symbol I both hated and loved. I needed a minute to gather enough courage,
but eventually, put my hand against the wood and slowly pushed the door open.

I felt my blood run cold and shivered, hesitantly letting my gaze wander around the entryway. The
walls were covered in more plant matter, the part where the paint hadn’t come off already was
heavily water damaged. I was surprised the walls didn’t collapse already. To the right was a broken
dresser with a porcelain vase on top of it, that was filled with green sluggish water, suggesting there
was some kind of flowers inside at one point.

Above the dresser was what I suspected was a mirror, as a few small pieces of glass still stuck to
the frame. A clothing rag, that was at one point fixed to the wall, lay almost completely decayed on
the floor. Said floor also wasn’t pretty to look at, with holes and bugs covering each board, a few of
them have lifted up from water damage.

We had to be careful where we stepped, so we wouldn’t stumble over anything or get our feet
caught in a hole or something. An absolutely filthy rug covered the floor in the small hallway that
came next, so much dirt and grime deeply embedded into its fibres that I couldn’t even make out
what kind of pattern was displayed on it.

The walls were about the same as before, though now they had various pictures hung up to them. A
few had fallen off and the glass had broken upon impact, littering the floor with sharp shards.
The paintings were mostly about nature or some kind of scenery, if they weren’t destroyed enough
to make it impossible to identify what was going on in them. But two stuck out to me:

The first one was the factory, or what it used to look like. I realized it used to be painted differently,
the colours much more vibrant than they had been once I was forced to take it over. Maybe it was
also the fact that I couldn’t care less about the aesthetics of the factory, letting rust eat its way
through the material and neglecting to keep up with maintenance.

The second picture though, made my chest clench uncomfortably. A woman and a man in their
wedding gowns. The details weren’t quite as clear anymore, but I knew that was my parents on
their wedding day.

My mother had her dark brown hair pinned up in a clean sort of bun, a few flowers are woven into
the hairdo. Her left elbow was interlocked with my fathers, her hands holding a bouquet at her
front. Her dress was simple and elegant, and her face was glowing with happiness.

My father looked just as bright, smiling at the camera with a certain level of pride. His simple
tuxedo with a single flower stuck in his breast pocket, the same kind that my mother held in her
hands, was rounded up with a hat that looked similar to the one I used to wear.

Y/N studied the picture closely, looking between it and my face. “You look just like your father.”

I had to agree, my features showed grand similarities to him, even the way my beard formed
resembled his own.

I smiled faintly. “I guess I do. Wish he could see that too.”

“Maybe he does see.” She suggested in a hushed voice, clearly hoping to not upset me.

I had lost any kind of faith in a deity some time ago, if I ever had any to begin with, but the thought
that maybe, just maybe, my parents could see me still soothed me a little. I made a mental note to
take the picture with me when we leave this place and continued on with the exploration.

At the end of the hallway, we were faced with a staircase and beside it a continuation of the
hallway. A vague memory of it leading to the living room came to my mind and I swallowed,
deciding that would be the last place to see. So instead, I led Y/N up the stairs to the second floor,
listening carefully for any indication that the old wood couldn’t hold our weight anymore.

Once up there, I looked around to determent which way I should go first. Deciding on the left, I
soon found myself at a door that instantly slapped my senses with memories.

“That’s my room.” I whispered as I realized this, Y/N giving me an encouraging smile.

“Are you still okay?”

No, I wasn’t. Never was to begin with, but that wasn’t what she meant right now. “I think so.”

I pushed the door open, the hinges creaking horribly in protest after decades of being in the same
position. Memories I didn’t know I had flashed through my inner eye as I took in my childhood
bedroom.

Memories of me sitting at the small desk that stood against the wall, looking out the window and
absentmindedly drawing a picture for my father.
Memories of me hiding in the closet while my mother searched for me, playing hide and seek.

Memories of sick days spent cuddled up in my bed with a stuffed bear in my arms, while my
mother fed me some stew.

Why couldn’t I remember any of it before now? A side effect from Miranda’s experiments? Or did
that bitch just not want me to remember the time before she fucked me up?

And now, all that’s left is this rotten mess. The furniture is halfway broken apart, the drapes and
bedding no longer there. Mold, bugs and the plant life now inhabit the room I was once occupying.

Y/N carefully walked around the room, inspecting what little was left that resembled childhood
memories. I think if she wasn’t with me, I’d punch some holes in the walls to release some of the
grief I felt from what I had lost.

“Hey, look at this.” She bend down, drawing my attention to something small on the floor that she
picked up.

Y/N walked back to my side, presenting me with a small metal figurine of a dog that was covered
in rust. “Did you make this?”

I couldn’t help but snicker. “Thanks for thinking so highly of me, but you really think I could’ve
made that when I was six or younger?”

She did that ridiculously cute pouting of hers, pointing out the initials that were carved onto its
belly. “K.H, Karl Heisenberg, no?”

“Again, valid point, but I really don’t think I did that.” I replied dryly, shrugging. “Must be my
fathers, then.”

“You look like him, you have the same hobbies, the same initials…” Y/N trailed off, but her words
struck me deep.

God, I wished I remembered my parent's first names, or thought about asking Chris before. Stupid
six-year-old brain that couldn’t value the importance of such things. At least I should learn them
once we get to the cemetery. I took the figure from her hands and put it in my pocket, deciding to
take it home and restore it again.

Leaving my bedroom and walking across the hallway, we entered what used to be my parent’s
bedroom. All I remembered from this room was the nights I’ve spent sleeping in their bed, safely
tucked in between my mother and father. The only other thing I now know about this room was that
it was the room Miranda had killed my father in. Chris found the old police report and they
suspected my parents were sleeping when an intruder broke into the home. The intruder being
Miranda, then killed my father, which in turn woke my mother.

She must’ve run away, hoping she could lead Miranda away from my bedroom, but she
underestimated what the witch could do. I just know she was trying everything she possibly could
to try and keep me safe.

I was so deeply focused on my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed a tear rolling down my cheek. Slender
fingers caressed my face, gently wiping it away and pulling me back to reality.
Y/N watched me with concern. “Love, please, if this is too much, it is more than fine if we leave.”

“N-No.” Fuck, I hated it whenever my voice cracked like that. “It’s alright.”

She didn’t believe me, I could tell, but let the matter drop. We inspected the room together, it being
just like the others, meaning in various states of decay, with the exception of three small paintings
above the bed, one on each side and they were in surprisingly good condition too. My mother, my
father and in the middle of them, a child. At first, I didn’t connect the dots, but then it hit me who
that must be.

I sensed the bit of metal at the back and let the painting fly into my hand, immediately bringing it
close to my face for closer inspection. Yep, that was definitely me. It was weird to see myself from
before what happened that night. Short brown hair, the same eyes but without the wrinkles from
stress, chubby cheeks almost. And an innocent smile that only a child could have, one that saw the
beauty of life before reality set in. I wished I could travel back to that time, just so I could smile
like that again.

“You look adorable,” Y/N commented, pulling the painting closer to herself without taking it from
me. “And handsome, even at that age.”

I huffed, the tips of my ear heating up and I cursed myself for not wearing hats anymore. I
distracted myself by taking the other two pictures off the wall and letting them float into my hand,
only for Y/N to take them in her own, saying she’d carry them for me. It was small things like these
that made me warm all over.

Now came the hardest part of our exploration, the downstairs Livingroom. As I walked down the
steps, I kept getting pulled into my memories from that faithful night, how my short legs sprinted
down the stairs. I could hear myself call out for my mother and I had to bite my tongue to not
actually do so.

And then I entered the living room and almost doubled over at the painful memories. Just a few
meters away from where I now stood, was the spot I so vividly remember her body laying on. I
could even make out the stain that formed from the puddle of blood she laid in, but I couldn’t tell if
I was just imagining it.

“Karl!” Y/N yelped and stepped in front of me, hiding the spot from my view.

I had to turn around, I couldn’t bear seeing it any moment longer, but I also couldn’t move away. I
felt like my body was frozen in terror just like it was that night. As if she could read my mind, Y/N
started filling the space up with her clouds, obscuring my eyes from further memories. I dropped to
my knees, my stomach convulsing but I refused to throw up and covered my face with my hands.

Y/N dropped to her knees beside me, pulling me into an awkward sideways embrace to try and
comfort me. I shouldn’t have come here, I really shouldn’t have. I said I could handle the pain, but I
couldn’t. It burned and pulled on every fibre in my body, flashes of her lifeless face slashing
through everything else I could think of right now.

My control over my power began to slip, I could feel what metal was around us starting to shake
and bend, causing the already weakened structures of the house to crumble, but not yet fall apart.
Burning rage filled my mind, fuelled by my grief and sorrow and a part of me screamed at me to
stop.
Y/N said she’d leave if I ever had such an outburst like the one at the factory again, and I couldn’t
let it come to that. But it was too much, I couldn’t stop myself, I was about to explode. Fuck, fuck,
FUCK!

What stopped me from that was lightning flickering over the cloud around us, dangerous powers
about ready to strike. The distraction was enough for me to will my powers to behave, and I looked
at Y/N. Her face was contorted in barely being held back rage, a look I didn’t often see on her. I
was worried she might be mad at me for not being able to control myself, but she must’ve seen
where my thoughts were leading to.

“It’s not you, Karl.” She assured me, voice shaking with anger. “I just wish I could kill Miranda all
over again for what she did to you and your family.”

Even though she said her anger came from that, I felt the need to apologize. “I’m sorry, I swear I
don’t want to act as I did before, but I just-“

“Karl, you’re allowed to feel anger.” She cut me off sternly. “You’re allowed to be sad, to rage, to
scream…When I said I never want to see such an outburst again, I meant when it was focused on
me. But for this? For all the pain Miranda put you through? I would let you tear down the whole
house.”

Allowed to feel anger? No, that damn emotion was what had driven me to almost kill the only
person I had left in my life. Fuck, why did I think I should come back here?!

Y/N helped me to my feet again, grabbing my hand tightly and pulled me back through the hallway
we came in. The closer we got to the exit, the more I was able to breathe again. I let my powers
calm down, the metal pieces scattered about dropping back to the floor.

I didn’t even notice how she pulled the wedding picture from the wall as we left, always thinking
for me that woman. God, what would I be without her?

Once back outside, the cool wind hit my face and the last bit of tension left my body. I had to sit
down on the stone wall just outside.

The tear I shed in the upstairs bedroom was nothing compared to the hot droplets that now rolled
down my cheeks. Y/N put the pictures down carefully, stepping closer to me again and gently
guided me back into her arms.

Even as I sobbed in her embrace, I was terrified of accidentally getting anywhere near her neck,
angling my head down as a precaution. She combed her fingers through my hair, whispering words
of encouragement to me.

“I’m so proud of you for doing all this, you’re so much stronger than you think.”

Yeah, the strongest fucking cry-baby. Fuck, I really should start getting into therapy, shouldn’t I?
Seeing it all again had ripped those old scars open again, though parts of the experience also gave
me a sense of closure. I know what my parents really looked like, I won’t have to only remember
my mother's dead face anymore. I know what my old home used to look like, I know what
happened to my father. And although I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a dark hole and hide
from the world for a while, I knew I needed to see their final resting place too.
After I calmed down a little, Y/N and I walked to the nearby graveyard. It took us a while, but
eventually, we found two old gravestones. They were covered in moss and Y/N and I had to spend
a good amount of time trying to remove it all to make certain we had the right ones.

Carved into the stones was my Crest once more, and right underneath their names were written.

“Klaus Heisenberg and Ursula Heisenberg…” I muttered their names, engraving them deeply into
my memory so I could never again forget them.

Y/N pointed at a little stone slap that was on the ground between the two graves, bending down to
clean it and then asking me to translate what it said.

“In loving memory of a family that was struck by tragedy. Here we place our condolences for the
lost child, Karl Heisenberg, may he be in good hands, wherever he may be.”

I grew quieter the more I read along, a strange feeling of community washing over me, as it seemed
like the town was struck hard by what happened to my family. Too bad I wasn’t in good hands at
all…Which wasn’t quite true anymore, was it? I had Y/N after all.

I went down to my knees once more, adverting my head to the ground and closing my eyes. There
were so many things I wanted to tell my parents, now that I had finally returned, but one sentence
stood above them all.

“Mama, Papa, ich bin wieder zu Hause.” (“Mother, father, I am back home.”)
 Anniversary
Chapter Notes

Besties, my night shifts are over! I feel kinda dead but I'm so excited to write the next chapter!

One month later, Heisenberg’s POV

I was walking through the dark hallways I knew all too well, the factory’s layout clearly in my head
still. I didn’t want to be back here, I thought it was behind me, but I was in the village all the same.

I had no control over my legs, they carried me along a path as if they had a mind of their own,
while I protested. Yet, I knew exactly where they were heading, and I wanted to scream for them to
stop.

My legs finally stopped where I dreaded being at most: The open room with the broken catwalk.
And I saw myself and Y/N as I was slowly baking her to the edge. I tried to close my eyes, to
scream at myself to just fucking stop. But I didn’t and I watched in horror as I lifted my hand and
grabbed her by her neck, lifting her up, my sorrow and rage only fuelling my strength.

Fuck, my legs that moved on their own before now refused to take even a step closer. I watched my
own face contort in pain, tears rolling down my cheeks and then how Y/N lifted her shaking hand
to wipe them away. I was hesitating, but then I dropped her and only then was I finally allowed to
scream.

Suddenly, I was allowed to move again, the iron grip on my body gone and I ran to the railing,
looking down into the depths of the factory, but it was all just pitch black. I looked around
frantically, the factory fading into darkness until all that was left was myself and the image of me
before me.

I stared into my own face in disgust and hate. “You’re a fucking idiot for doing that.”

“She hurt us.” The other me responded. “People who hurt us deserve death.”

“But not her! She sacrificed everything for us!” I yelled, stomping over to the image to try and slap
some sense into myself, but the other me just moved further back without lifting a muscle.

I was about to demand it to stop and face me when my other self started to contort and warp, my
body changing. Three pairs of black wings sprouted from my back, my face twisting and reshaping
into Mother Miranda and the image made me so fucking sick.

“Oh, my son. You are more like me than you want to admit.”

“Shut up!” I cried out, trying to move away but once again stuck in place. “You’re dead! You’re not
real!”
All I could do was watch her approach me with that fake motherly smile of hers. “Face it. You are a
monster, just like me.”

“Get out of my fucking head!” I sobbed, pressing my hands hard against my ears, desperate to
drown her voice out to no avail.

She lifted her hand, the tip of her finger tapping against my forehead. “Oh, Heisenberg. I’ll be in
there forever. There is nothing you can do to get me out. I am a part of you, just like the Cadou is.”

“No! Fucking stop already! You took everything from me already, just stop!” I was never one to
beg, had actually sworn to myself to never again beg her for mercy, since I was a child.

The witch tutted at me. “Not everything. Y/N is still with you and I’m sure you think you’re safe
now, right? But I am always with you.”

Was she fucking threatening to take her away too?! No, Miranda is dead! She’s gone, she can’t do
shit, it’s impossible!

My eyes snapped open with a strangled sob, my body yerking awake with so much force I almost
fell off the bed in the process.

I hurriedly looked around, realizing I was back at home and in bed with Y/N, who was sleeping
next to me. Miranda was gone and I finally realized it was a nightmare all along.

I sacked back down onto the mattress, exhaustion nagging at my bones and making me ache all
over. I was used to my nightmares, even if they had become less frequent since we left the village,
but this was new. It felt so real I almost couldn’t believe it didn’t happen. Just to make sure, I
pinched my arm so hard I was sure the spot would bruise.

“Karl, honey, what’s wrong?”

Y/N’s voice startled me enough to give a full-on flinch. Only when I met her worried expression
did I notice the state I was in: A sweaty, heavy breathing mess with tears in my eyes. I quickly
reached up and wiped the droplets away with the back of my hand, looking down at a spot I found
on our blanket.

“Had a nightmare. Sorry for waking you up.”

Her warm hand instantly went to my cheek, gently scratching my beard and I relaxed into the
touch.

“Don’t ever apologize for that. You don’t have to tell me what you saw, but just know that I am
here with you, alright?”

I got the feeling she saw right through me and just somehow knew the dream was about me killing
her. Slowly, I looked up to her eyes and she instantly slid closer, throwing her arms around my neck
and pulling me into her loving embrace. She was pressing my head dangerously close to her neck,
and I tried to pull away, but she persisted.

“It’s okay, Karl. Just relax.”

One of her hands went into my hair while the other gently scratched along my back, making me
shiver as goosebumps formed on my skin. I shyly nuzzled against the skin of her jaw, inhaling her
scent and starting to calm down, melting against her body.

“I love you.” I whispered with a muffled voice, but I hoped she heard me anyway. “Please, don’t
ever forget that.”

“Never could.” She responded with a sigh. “I love you too, mein Liebling.” (My darling)

I lifted my head to look at her in surprise. “Since when do you speak German?”

She smiled sleepily. “Learned a few small things, thought you’d like that.”

My voice failed me. Fuck, she’s an angel, isn’t she? I leaned in for a kiss, which she happily
reciprocated, her softness making me forget the pain I just felt.

Miranda is gone and Y/N is with me for the rest of my life if I play my cards right. And judging by
her content sigh, I’m not doing a bad job so far.

Three months later

Today was the one-year anniversary of killing Mother Miranda. The year had gone by in such a
rush you almost couldn’t believe it had already been that long. The domestic life with Karl that you
had settled in was now a normality and it seemed like a dream.

Karl and you had been going to see a therapist on a regular basis since visiting his childhood home.
For Karl, it was to work through all the anger he still had, all the grief he had festered for decades
and finally finding healthy ways to let his emotions be felt.

For you it was to work through your own trauma, the flashes of fear you’d still get whenever
memories of your near-death experience appeared in your mind. It was also to work on learning to
trust each other again.

It involved regular discussions about your boundaries, your feelings and thoughts. It was something
you hadn’t realized you didn’t have even before that last day at the village: Open communication.
Karl and you had been talking, sure, but never like you did now.

Deep conversations that caused a lot of emotions to stir in both of you and then finding ways to
work through them, either together on in your own spaces when needed. You finally felt like your
relationship had taken a healthier turn than it had been before.

Since tonight was a special occasion, Karl insisted that he cook dinner. He had recently started
getting into the TV shows of the 21st century and discovered a certain Scottish chef by the name of
Gordon Ramsey. It didn’t surprise you even a little bit that Karl had taken a liking to him, the sassy
chef that came up with the most colourful insults he had ever heard, was certainly right up his alley.

Your home smelled like pure heaven when you walked downstairs after taking a shower, a radio
playing some music in the kitchen. You stepped into the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe
with a smile on your lips as you watched Karl cook.

It didn’t go unnoticed how much calmer he was now. His face used to always have a certain tension
to it whenever he was working on something alone, only really leaving whenever you were with
him. But now, he was humming along to the song that played, swaying his hips a little and looked
overall just so relaxed and happy.
He had his back turned to you, and you tiptoed over to him and laid your hands on his hips. He
startled at the contact, a sigh leaving him when you let your hands glide to his front. You couldn’t
resist and pushed his shirt up a little, just enough for you to let your hands slide inside and touch
the skin of his stomach, enjoying the feeling of his hair against your palms.

“You’re a little distracting.” Karl snickered, continuing to cook as you stepped closer until you
could press your chest against his back.

You kissed the middle of his back. “I’m sure you can manage.”

“If you’re hungry, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a little longer. Burned the vegies, had to start
over.” He grumbled and you could almost feel his glare as he looked down at the pan.

“I’m sure I won’t starve.” You grinned, snuggling to his back and closing your eyes. “It smells
really good.”

“Me or the food?” He asked teasingly, wiggling himself free of your grasp so he could get the
seasoning.

“Both.” You sighed, stepping away to let him work again. “Though I did smell your cigars on you.”

He looked over his shoulder at you. “I didn’t smoke inside, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“Oh, I know.” You assured him, sticking out your tongue playfully. “You wouldn’t dare after you
almost burned one of our couch cushions because you fell asleep with a lit cigar in your mouth.”

“And I told you I didn’t!” He laughed, turning around and leaning back against the counter. “Had it
all under control.”

“Of course you had.” You replied in a teasing tone, soothing his playful annoyance with a kiss. “I
love you.”

“Trying to get on my good side, huh?” He chuckled, pulling you closer by your hips. “But I love
you too.”

Your lips found each other again, reuniting in a longer and more intense kiss. Karl held you close
by your hips while you fisted your hands into his shirt, both of you melting against the other.

Suddenly remembering he was in the middle of something, Karl turned around and removed the
pan from the stove before he could burn another batch of vegetables.

“You’re dangerous, you know.” Karl mumbled, but his smile never wavered. “Go set up the table
before we have a damn fire in here.”

You patted his butt mischievously. “Yes, sir.”

He huffed and shooed you off to do your new task, returning to cooking in peace again. This new
domestic bliss is what made you the happiest since moving in here, Karl finally being allowed to
live a life he wanted and not one in which all control was taken from him. You set up the table in
content silence, the music of the radio playing along as Karl finished up making dinner.

Karl carried the pan over to the table, setting it down in the middle just as you put the plates down.
You used that opportunity of him bending down slightly to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for making
dinner tonight, love.”

“Don’t thank me yet, maybe it tastes horrible.” He commented with a little smirk, gesturing for you
to sit down.

He prepared two glasses of your favourite beverage before starting to fill the two plates, looking
over at you every now and then as you patiently waited. He really was spoiling you tonight. Once
everything was served, he let himself drop into the other chair unceremoniously, sprawling out.

You lifted your glass up and towards him. “How about a toast? To one year since killing the bitch.”

Karl lifted his own, his smile not quite reaching his eyes anymore as he put his drink to yours. “To
killing the bitch.”

You knew exactly what he was thinking about. It wasn’t just the anniversary of killing Miranda, but
also the day he almost killed you a year ago. The day of your biggest fight, the day when
everything went wrong.

“Karl…” You looked at him with as much encouragement as you could, trying to communicate
without words that you were okay now.

“I know, I know…” He sighed, taking a few big gulps of his drink. “Still working on getting
through that part with the therapist.”

You reached over to take his hand into yours. “And we’re going to be okay, we’re already so much
better than we were a year ago.”

Karl leaned over the table so he could kiss the back of my hand, pressing it to his cheek afterwards.
“I’m sorry for what happened that day. And before you say it, I know I apologized like half a
million times already, but I will continue doing so for the rest of my damn life. Even though you
said you have forgiven me, I can’t forgive myself.”

“Karl, please don’t work yourself up over it.” You pleaded with him, not wanting for him to tumble
into darkness for the rest of the evening. “You’re doing so well, going to therapy and working on
yourself. I am happy with you, even if I could never forget what happened back then.”

“And I don’t want you to forget.” He told you firmly. “What I did that day, even if you’re happy
now, I want you to hold me accountable for it for the rest of my life. I want you to remember what
I’m capable of.”

“Are you capable of that though?” You asked him, watching his face contort in confusion.

“What are you talking about? Of course, I am! That’s the whole point of this conversation-“

“If I left you right now, would you hurt me?” You cut him off, letting him pull away in shock.

He began to stumble over any sort of response, so you assured him. “Not saying that I am. But if I
did, would you?”

His mouth hung open for a few beats, before he closed it to swallow audibly. “N-No, of course I
wouldn’t.”
“See?” You said calmly, taking his hand in yours again. “That’s because you have grown and
changed, Karl. You have to acknowledge what you accomplished as well as your mistakes of the
past.”

“You sound like my therapist.” He said it with a breathless laugh accompanying the words.

You mirrored his move from before, kissing the back of his hand before letting him go. “Then
maybe you should start listening to us. Now come on, let’s eat before it gets cold.”

Karl nodded, the mood getting more light again as time went on and the excellent dish he cooked
was gone. You wanted to relax in comfortable silence for a while, but Karl had other plans.

The music from the radio in the kitchen got louder and it took you a moment to realize Karl had
turned the knob for the volume with his powers. He got up and went to your side, holding out his
hand for you to take.

“Would you care for a dance?”

You looked up at him sceptically. “Neither of us can dance, Karl.”

“I am well aware.” He giggled, grabbing your hand and pulling you to your feet. “But we’re all
alone, so who cares?”

You playfully rolled your eyes at him but let him pull you to his chest all the same. You put your
arms around his torso, letting your head rest on his chest and listening to his heartbeat and almost
drowning out the music in the back. His big hands rested on your hips, gently swaying you to the
music.

The rest of the world faded into nothingness, forgotten to the two of you and not worth caring about
anymore. It was only Karl and you: The feeling of his grasp on you, his smell, his skin against
yours and his voice in your ears.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, I feel like I don’t tell you that enough.”

You looked up at him, meeting his honest gaze. “And you’re very handsome.”

Your lips met, slow and easy at first before the kiss sparked a familiar heat inside you, that you
hadn’t felt in quite some time. Karl and you had kept off from sexual activities with each other for a
whole year as well. You hadn’t felt the need for that kind of intimacy for so long, it almost startled
you that it washed over you now.

Karl must’ve felt it too, as he broke off the kiss to take a deep breath, his heated gaze focusing on
you. He was trying to figure out if you were on the same page as him and you showed your want
for him by slowly lifting one leg up until you could hook it around his waist. He got the hint, ready
as you did a little jump to hook your other leg around him too, his hands supporting you at the
crease of your thighs to your butt. You snaked your arms around his neck, kissing him softly as he
blindly walked towards the stairs. He was careful while ascending them, trying to both see where
he was stepping and continuing to kiss you.

The closer you got to your bedroom, the more nervous did you get. It was like you were about to
have your first time with him all over again and you started wondering if you’re really ready for
that.
 The Intimacy With You
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Karl laid you down in gentle carefulness, as if he could accidentally break you if you hit the
mattress too hard. His body stayed in the gap between your legs, and he leaned over you, going
down so he could rest on his forearms. Already you could feel him starting to get hard, making you
groan into the kiss.

Karl took that noise as a chance to break the kiss. “One year of abstinence, huh? It’s weird, I forgot
what your body does to me.”

You reached up to push some of his hair back, wanting to really take him in. “Could say the same.
But I think we should talk about what exactly we want here.”

It took him a moment, but his eyes widened when he got what your point was. “Ah, no condoms.”

You nodded, a blush creeping over your cheeks. “Yeah. Didn’t think to text Umbrella to ask for
some.”

Karl rolled his eyes with a slight smirk. “Sure, Chris would never let that down…”

He grew more serious again. “…So, do you want to, eh, try it?”

Well, it was a year of growth and changes behind you, but your wish for a family with Karl was
always there. Were you ready for that now? Yes, but you couldn’t quite push your nerves from
earlier away. You worried your bottom lip between your teeth, looking up at Karl shyly. The
arousal was still with you, so you decided to be brave and not think about whatever that bad gut
feeling you had was.

“If you’re ready for it too, then I think we could try getting pregnant.”

Your words had a strange effect on him, his hips grinding against yours as he released a strangled
moan. “Shit, that’s one of the hottest things you ever said to me.”

His reaction relaxed you a little, taking his face into your hands to drag him back into a kiss. Karl
melted against your body, letting his whole weight be felt and the pressure was a welcomed
sensation. You sighed when his hands went under your shirt, riding it up and caressing your sides
and belly.

It made you shiver. “I love you and I can’t wait to have a family with you.”

That made him shudder, hard. He looked at you with something close to a scowl, though with no
real menace behind it. “Honey, this is going to be over embarrassingly fast if you continue talking
like that.”

You started wondering if perhaps Karl had a bit of a breeding kink that he just now discovered but
didn’t point it out to him yet. You giggled and let him pull your shirt off, his lips instantly going for
the skin of your breasts. He kissed them, tongue darting out for a little taste every now and then.
You felt the clasps of your bra unfastening, for a second wondering how Karl was doing that while
his hands stayed at your hips until you remembered the clasps were made from metal.

An uncomfortable tremble ran through your body as he dragged the bra off your body, exposing
your breasts to the cool room, your nipples instantly peaking up. Something felt off, but you just
couldn’t place the reason for why, or even what was off. You were glad Karl’s head was moving
down your body, as he couldn’t see the frown on your face like that.

You tried pushing the feeling away, trying to remember the feelings you used to have when he
touched you like he did now. You know he will make you feel good, ecstatic even, and you did
anticipate the pleasure, but it just didn’t quite work out for you.

Instead of saying anything, you let him open your pants and pull them off, kissing his way back up
your leg. But nothing would escape his keen senses, especially not when it came to you.

He let up at your quietness, locking eyes with you. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, of course.” You lied, feeling ridiculous for feeling this way.

It was your idea and you felt an ache, a want to finally feel him again, but those unnamed feelings
just didn’t let up like you hoped it would.

You sighed, deciding to be honest as you should’ve been once you felt uncomfortable. “N-No, I’m
not. I’m sorry…”

Karl instantly grabbed one of your blankets and wrapped you up in it, giving you some space but
looking over you worriedly.

“Don’t apologize for that, you have every right to tell me to stop. Did I do something?”

You sighed, annoyed at yourself and drawing the blanket closer around you. “It’s not you. I-I don’t
know what it is, I feel horny and yet I have this bad gut feeling, like I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Maybe it’s too early still?” Karl suggested, glad to know he didn’t upset you. “We can still wait
with sexual intimacy, buttercup.”

“But that doesn’t feel right either.” You whined, hating that not even you could figure out how you
felt. “I want to be intimate with you again, I want to make a child with you.”

Karl looked thoughtful for a minute, the gears in his head turning until he got an idea. “Maybe
actual sex is too much for right now, so how about we start with something else?”

Your interest was peaked again, tilting your head. “What do you have in mind?”

A shy look crossed his face, a deeply red blush painting over his face. “Scoot back a little and sit
against the headboard.”

You did as he asked, watching him get up and walk to the chair you had in the corner and pulling it
to the front of the bed. The clothes you two just threw on there instead of thinking about the
laundry bin were thrown back into the corner without a second thought.

“What are you up to?” You asked again, only for him to shush you.
“Just lean back and enjoy the show.”

Your brows knitted together in confusion, wondering what kind of show he was talking about, until
he started pulling his shirt over his head. He sat down in the chair, spreading his legs apart and
getting comfortable.

His breath came out trembling as one of his hands combed through his hair, holding it back from
his face, while his other one started touching his chest. You watched him with rapt attention, a
pleasurable pulsing being felt between your legs at the display.

His chest was heaving with already heavy breaths when he reached his pants, palming himself
through the fabric.

Karl moaned, trying to keep eye contact with you while his hips twitched into his hand. “Fuck, tell
me what you want me to do.”

That was something new. Sex with Karl was always a little control game for him as well, not that
you didn’t enjoy that. He was always the dominant during sex, and you happily gave yourself to
him, but now he was giving the control over to you. He wanted you to decide how much pleasure
he could have and take, he wanted you to take control over him.

Given his issues with relinquishing control, him giving it to you so freely and readily made you
emotional all over, the new trust between you two only getting stronger.

You had to take a deep breath before you answered him. “T-Take off your pants.”

Karl lifted his hips up without hesitation, hooking both of his thumbs into the waistband of his
pants and underwear and pushing them down. He hissed when his cock was freed, half-hard but
quickly getting harder again.

He kicked the rest of his clothing off, looking at you for more instructions. The image he made was
purely erotic and a moan pushed itself out of your lips, feeling yourself getting wet.

You decided on teasing him into full hardness for now, remembering what made him tick. “Scratch
your nails over your thighs.”

Karl followed your order, goosebumps forming over his skin as his nails left soft red lines in their
wake. Your legs shifted underneath the blanket, one of your hands reaching down to touch yourself
over your underwear. Karl could tell what you were doing, even if he couldn’t see it, and he
groaned, his hands going dangerously close to where he wanted them most but not touching yet.

“Touch your nipples.” You smirked, knowing they were more sensitive than he wanted to admit.

As he carefully pinched the two buds between his fingers, his head lazily rolling back, his cock
became fully hard. You keened quietly as you continued to rub yourself through the fabric.

Something almost feral and possessive came over you, making your voice take on a firm tone.
“Beg for it.”

Karl’s head snapped back up instantly, not having expected you to get that into it. “Damn, you’re
fucking hot when you talk like that.”
You took that compliment in without showing how much it affected you, repeating yourself and
putting emphasis on every single word. “Beg. For. It.”

Karl kept your gaze, hands dropping to his sides as he swallowed. “Please, let me touch myself.”

“You are touching yourself.” You pointed out smugly, enjoying the little sneer that came to his lips.

“Please, let me touch my dick.” He clarified, voice strained, and he was clearly thinking about just
taking what he wanted from his hand, but he didn’t.

“Good boy.” You told him, the words slipping from your tongue without thinking. “Take yourself in
hand.”

He wrapped his hand around his length and held it there, struggling to not start fucking his hand
like a beast. “Can I? Please?”

Oh God, what that man does to you right now, your underwear getting more and more ruined. “Yes,
but slowly.”

He exhaled slowly, trying to calm down and stay on track as he started to move his fist up and
down his cock. Your legs spread, the blanket slipping from one of your shoulders as you rubbed
yourself still, pushing the fabric aside to get some real contact. Your stern façade started to crack as
you rolled your hips against your hand, your fingers moving from your hole to your clit, dragging
the slick along.

It was a little cruel, you thought, to give yourself exactly what you wanted while Karl had to watch
and try to not speed up himself.

He was moaning loudly, growing desperate and struggling to get through his words. “O-Okay,
please let-let me…More.”

His begging only intensified your own pleasure, but you took pity on him. “Go on, show me how
much you want it.”

Karl didn’t need any further encouragement, his hips snapping up into his fist while his other hand
reached down to fondle his balls. Obscene moans and groans, sighs and keens filled the room from
both of you and you grew more and more hot underneath the blanket.

You whined as you took your hand away from your core, shrugging the blanket off and hurrying on
pulling your underwear off next. Karl’s mouth hung open and you presented yourself for him, just
like he did for you, legs spread widely so he could see how aroused you were from his display.

“Please, please!” Karl was begging again, and the sound was making you go wild.

“P-Please what?” You asked, even through the haze of pleasure, you couldn’t let that opportunity
go to waste.

“Need to…come!” Karl’s back began to arch, telling you how close he was already. “Let me! I-I
want to…”

“Fuck!” You cursed, your own movements speeding up at his words, equally close to completion.
“Do it! Come for me.”
Karl threw his head back as his body went rigid, his movements getting frantic as he found his
release, white cum painting his chest. That image was what pushed you over the edge too, a high
scream of pleasure ripping through your throat until you slumped back against the headboard.

The next minute, Karl and you spent trying to catch your breaths, the first orgasm after so long
being so intense you needed to gather some energy to speak again.

“Fuck Y/N, I underestimated the fuck out of you right there.” Karl laughed with a sated grin, using
his previously discarded shirt as a cum-rag. “Definitely need to do that again.”

You sprawled out on your back on the bed, the ugly feeling from before has vanished completely
and you grinned sheepishly at him.

“I think I’m ready now.”

Karl chuckled light-heartedly. “Give a man some rest after all that. Ten minutes, then I’m all
yours.”

“You’re mine already.” You said possessively, watching his spent cock twitch in interest at the
comment.

“Goddamn it, woman, you’re lucky the bug gives me more stamina.” Karl huffed, getting up and
letting himself drop onto the bed and to your side.

You rolled over to rest against his side, kissing him softly. “Thank you for making me feel better.”

“Oh, believe me, I loved doing that.” He grinned, lazily kissing you back and nuzzling against your
cheek with a sigh. “You sure you’re ready for sex? We don’t have to, I won’t be mad if you decide
that was it for tonight.”

You pushed yourself up, swinging one leg over his hips and straddling him. Your wet heat was met
with his already starting to harden again dick.

“I’m sure, Karl. I want to feel you inside me.” You whispered, reaching behind yourself to line him
up with your hole.

“You’re gonna be the death of me.” He laughed but nodded his consent nonetheless.

You had to admit, getting him inside in this barely half-hard state was a little awkward, but the
feeling you then got when he started to harden within you made it worth it. Karl put his arms
behind his head, relaxing back against the mattress and just watching you on top of him.

“I can’t wait to see you pregnant. You’re going to be even more beautiful than you already are and
that’s not an easy thing to do.”

You smiled down at him, not moving yet and just enjoying the feeling of him inside of you, for the
first time without anything separating you. “And you’re going to be such a good father, I just know
it.”

Karl blinked up at you with a strange look on his face, eyes showing his emotional state to you.
You gently caressed his cheek, letting him come to term with what you said in silence.
“I eh…Didn’t realize how badly I needed to hear that.” He confessed, voice wavering a little with
heavy emotions.

You leaned down to kiss him, his arms untangling from under his head and running up and down
your back. When he added his nails to the mix, you unintentionally clenched around his now hard
cock, making him groan into the kiss softly. Happy little tears started to form in your eyes and you
pulled away to sit up again, so you could wipe them away.

“Are you okay?” He asked, holding you still by your hips in case you wanted to start moving,
wanting to hear your response first.

“Just a little overwhelmed right now.” You admitted, sniffling but smiling brightly. “Having you
inside me, the fact that we’re going to have a kid soon. It’s a bit much.”

Karl reached for one of your hands, gently kissing the palm of it. “I know what you mean, it feels
like a dream, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” You agreed, feeling the familiar warmth of love in your belly. “I hope I’m not ruining the
mood by saying this, but I’m so happy I chose you almost six years ago at the church.”

He didn’t say anything to that, just reached up and laid his hand over your cheek, his thumb
stroking over the cheekbone. You grabbed his wrist, letting your hand slide up until it covered his,
pressing it harder against your skin as you lifted yourself up and then letting yourself slide back
down. Karl hummed quietly and closed his eyes, his chest expanding with a deep breath as you let
your free hand roam over his pecks. His free hand slid from your hips to your thigh, gently
squeezing the flesh there and encouraging you to continue moving on top of him.

You let your head roll back as you continued the slow pace, Karl’s hand on your face gliding down
to gently cup one breast, his thumb stroking over your nipple. There were no traces left of the
desperation from before, Karl and you more than content with the easy-going pace, the lazy rolls of
hips. You felt and enjoyed every inch of him, moaning his name whenever he’d hit the most
pleasurable of spots. Time and space faded into nothing, the world forgotten to you and Karl
underneath. It was only you and him.

After about ten minutes of this, Karl grabbed you by your hips, forcing you to stop and guided you
to withdraw from him. He turned you over so you could lay on your back, pressing a kiss to your
forehead and reaching to the side to get a pillow. He playfully tapped your butt, putting the pillow
underneath when you lifted your hips for him. It created a new angle and you found the reason for
the change when Karl re-entered your willing body. In this new position, he was able to thrust
deeper than you ever felt him before, reaching so far you almost thought it might hurt. It also lined
him up perfectly with your G-spot and he purposefully aimed to hit it with every thrust, silencing
your whines and moans with his lips on yours.

The leisured movements of his hips against yours began to pick up more speed, the familiar coil
starting to form in your abdomen. Karl must’ve been close as well, as he broke the kiss apart to
look at you.

“Are you ready?”

Ready to come? Ready to feel him fill you up? Ready to start a family with the man you loved?
Yes, to everything.
 “Let’s make a baby.” You whispered to him, your smile one of pure happiness. “Give it all to me.”

He moaned your name, his head dropping down to your shoulder and you felt his breath tickle
against your neck. Usually, you’d want to withdraw from him whenever he accidentally came near
to that part of your body, but right now as your orgasm hit, and you felt his cock twitch and release
itself inside you? You found that urge to be absent.

One of your hands went into his hair while the other grasped at his back, desperate for something to
ground yourself with as the feeling of his cum inside of you made you tingly all over. Karl panted
against your skin, giggling happily and placing a kiss first to your shoulder, then your jaw and then
your lips.

He melted against you, not showing any signs that he wanted to pull out any time soon. You
hugged him with both arms and legs, not letting him go either. You wanted to stay in this moment
forever, the feeling so special to you, it felt wrong to let it go.

“If we sleep like this, I’m pretty much making sure all the baby-batter stays in there.” Karl
suggested jokingly, kissing the frown on your face away.

“Baby-batter?” You repeated with a playful scowl.

“Sounds better than sperm, no? Way to medical that one.” Karl laughed. “Or you could do a
headstand for like half an hour, should help too.”

“I’m sure it’ll be just fine even if I don’t do that.” You sighed, but still not letting him pull out.

Karl seemed as content as you to stay in this position for the time being, clumsily dragging a
blanket over himself and doing his best to cover most of his body. You, after all, had a
Heisenblanket and he made sure you were warm enough without the extra help.

You two cuddled and relaxed against each other, mumbling and whispering sweet nothings,
promises and love confessions to the other until you both fell asleep with him still inside of you.

Chapter End Notes

You all know where we're heading to... 👀

 Little Sunshine (Part 1)
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Six weeks later

In hindsight, it should have been obvious. But then again, ever since getting the Cadou implanted,
your monthly cycle was more than just irregular and who could blame you for being sure getting
pregnant was going to take a long time?

Sure, the new flame of desire your anniversary night had lit caused Karl and you to go at it like a
pair of wild animals, being in a rut and heat respectively, but it being that easy to get knocked up?
Unbelievable.

Now, what caused you to realize there might be something up in the oven? Was it that your breasts
began to feel a certain soreness, almost tender to the touch? No, you just shrugged that off as Karl
handling them a little too roughly. Was it the slight nausea you’d get every now and then? No, that
must’ve been a bad reaction to some kind of food you ate. Surely it was the fatigue you felt with
increasing intensity, but well, getting fucked by Karl does tire you out pretty quickly too.

No, the realization came to you from an unexpected source one faithful day during the afternoon.

Rubbing your tired eyes, you walked to the kitchen, desperate for some cool water after the long
nap you had just taken. Sleeping should help with replenishing your energy, yet you felt like all you
did was leave this world for a few hours before returning from dreamland, feeling the same as
when you left.

You groaned once you saw the dirty dishes that still needed to be put away, having forgotten them
after you laid down after having lunch with Karl. You grabbed a glass from one of the cupboards,
walking to the sink and filling it with water. You drank silently, mustering up the motivation to get
some household chores done, when you heard some rattling somewhere close.

Karl was upstairs in his little workstation, tinkering away on another project of his, so you
shrugged the noise off as coming from up there. But as you put the now empty glass down, you saw
something small move in the sink among the dirty dishes. You leaned closer to see what it was,
only for it to jump at you.

You staggered back with a startled yelp, looking around franticly to see where it had gone off to.
Your gaze finally landed on a teaspoon that was clinging to your lower abdomen, smudging
whatever leftover food traces left on it onto your clean shirt. You looked down at it for a few
seconds, confused but mostly annoyed, grabbing the handle and trying to peel it off. But it stayed
stuck in place and you just weren’t in the mood for Karl’s games right now.

With a tired sigh, you walked out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. Once at the bottom of them,
you yelled up to the second floor.

“Karl! Could you please stop with your little jokes!?”

You heard a door creak open, Karl’s voice calling back. “What are you talking about?”
You rolled your eyes. “Quit playing dumb! I’m really not in the mood for it right now!”

Footsteps followed, Karl peaking his head around the top of the stairs. “Honey, for real, I have no
idea what you’re talking about.”

“Aha, and how do you explain this?” You pointed at your belly with a scowl.

Karl tilted his head a little, walking around the railing and down the stairs to meet you. “Why do
you have a spoon on your belly?”

“Karl, I’m serious! Please just stop trying to mess with me and take it away.” You pleaded with
him.

He reached out and tugged on it, lifting his eyebrows in surprise and confusion. “Y/N, why do you
have a magnetic field down there?”

You looked at him sceptically. “I swear, if you’re fucking with me right now, I’m going to banish
you to the couch tonight.”

“It’s not me doing that.” He murmured, finally pulling the spoon away and staring at the stain it left
behind before discarding it by letting it float back into the kitchen. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s
small but reasonably strong too.”

You started to relax a little, starting to believe him. “So, if it’s not your doing, then what the hell is
going on?”

Karl grinned teasingly. “Did you swallow a magnet or something?”

You rolled your eyes with an amused huff, crossing your arms over your chest. “If so, it would
probably be stuck in my stomach, and my stomach isn’t that far down there. The only thing close to
that area is…”

You trailed off, frowning. Well, your uterus is around there. Could it be? Karl met your questioning
gaze, seemingly coming to the same sort of conclusion.

“A-Are you suggesting we’re…” He gave you a once over, as if making sure there was anything to
indicate another answer to the magnetic field.

Your hands went to your lower belly, resting gently over the spot the spoon was at just before, as if
you could feel if your hunch was true or not.

“I-I don’t know, but maybe?”

A shivering exhale, close to a startled laugh, came from Karl, excitement tugging the corner of his
lips up into a hesitant smile. “I don’t want to get our hopes up yet, we need to make sure first.”

You nodded, already pulling your phone from your pocket. “I’m calling Chris, I don’t want
Umbrella themselves getting wind of this yet.”

Your fingers were trembling as you clicked on Chris’s contact, putting the phone on speaker for
Karl. The engineer had stepped closer to you, his arms circling around your body and holding you
gently as you waited for Chris to pick up. Luckily, you knew the agent was only an hour away from
you (which he shouldn’t have told you about in the first place.)
“Y/N, what is it?” Chris’s voice came in through the call, sounding bored but not annoyed at you
calling him.

“Hey Chris! Nice to hear you too, we need your help!” You rushed over your words, nervousness
making you hurry along.

Chris went quiet for a few beats. “Are you two in trouble?”

“We need a pregnancy test!” Karl blurted out, grinning at your disapproving scoff.

“Oh my fucking God…” Chris went quiet again, taking a few deep breaths. “H-He’s not joking, is
he, Y/N?”

“Afraid not.” You giggled, snuggling closer to Karl. “Could you get us one? Without telling
Umbrella about it yet?”

Chris groaned, now certainly annoyed. “Fucks sake, why did I befriend you two…? Never mind,
I’ll get three tests, we’re going to make extra fucking sure.”

In typical Redfield fashion, Chris ended the call without another word or a goodbye. Karl pulled
the phone from your hand and let it float away to the living room table, setting it down before
turning you around in his arms. He grabbed your face and kissed you, grinning and chuckling with
genuine happiness.

“I-I know I said I don’t want to get our hopes up yet, but do you realize what this could mean?!”

You hugged him, pressing close enough for your belly to be flush against his. “That we may
become parents in the near future?”

He melted against you with a soft sigh, kissing the top of your head. “Yeah…”

You two settled onto the couch, you straddling his hips as he rubbed his hands up and down your
back, talking in hushed voices about all the changes that might come to your lives soon, until there
was a knock on the door about two hours later.

Chris opened the door without another second wasted, knowing Karl had used his powers to unlock
the door. He stomped into the living room, holding out three small packages but stopping once he
saw the position you two were in.

“Hell no, positions like that are the whole reason we’re in this situation to begin with! Off you go.”

You rolled your eyes and rolled off of Karl, smirking. “Chris, I think it’s too late for you to try and
put a chastity belt on us.”

Karl snickered to himself, while Chris held the tests out for you to take. “Go on, get going.”

“Yes sir!” You mock saluted him, sauntering off to the bathroom to do the tests while Chris let
himself fall onto one of your armchairs.

You re-joined them five minutes later, putting the three tests down in the middle of the table.
“Alright, instructions said we need to wait three minutes. One line means not pregnant, two means
pregnant.”
You sat down next to Karl, who put his arm over your shoulder and dragged you closer. Chris
leaned forward until he could rest his elbows on his knees, studying you and coming to the obvious
conclusion.

“You two were planning this all along, weren’t you?”

You gave him an apologetic smile. “Yes, we always knew we wanted kids someday.”

Chris sighed, almost in disappointment. “You should have told us about that beforehand, at the very
least told me.”

Karl scoffed. “Oh, I’m sorry for wanting to not have Umbrella monitoring our sex-life, or worse try
to prevent it altogether.”

“Calm down, Heisenberg.” The other man leaned back against the back of the chair. “S’not like
that. But you two do realize what your kid could become, right? You’re both infected with the
mold, so the child will be too.”

“We can already confirm that.” You said, absentmindedly putting your hand over your belly. “Had a
spoon stuck to me earlier.”

“Great, and the kid is a little Magneto too.” Chris laughed at his own joke. “That alone would be
enough to say you’re pregnant.”

“She could’ve also just swallowed a magnet.” Karl repeated his joke from earlier, joining in on
Chris’s laughter.

“Look Chris, we’re sorry we haven’t told you about our plans.” You apologized to him, even if you
knew Karl didn’t agree with that.

Chris ultimately waved it off. “Who cares anymore, I should’ve read the signs. Knew something
was up with that ‘storage room’ you two insisted on having.”

He thought for a moment, locking eyes with Karl. “You know, if you told us about all this sooner,
we could’ve also checked your fertility and stuff with Dr. Lange. Looks to me like you’ve been
struggling if it had taken you over a year to get pregnant.”

Karl scoffed, a little offended at the implication his manhood wasn’t working well. “For your
information, you noisy bastard, we didn’t have sex for a whole year after we killed Miranda.”

“Oh, so the struggle was with you getting a hard-on? You know, there are pills for that nowadays.”
Chris couldn’t stop himself, laughing as Karl’s head started getting red.

“Oh, listen here motherfucker-!” Karl started, but you interrupted him calmly.

“The three minutes should be over now.”

The two men ended their bickering, growing quiet and all three of you just stared at the middle of
the table. You’d have to get closer to see the results, but your nerves failed you.

What if you weren’t pregnant after all? What if Chris was right and Karl and you couldn’t have any
kids? God knows all the side effects the Cadou could have. Karl looked equally apprehensive to
take a look at the results, an unusual quietness taking hold over him.
Chris looked at the two of you, getting more serious again and feeling a bit of pity. “Do you want
me to look first?”

Karl didn’t say anything, just continued staring holes into the table. You sucked in a breath through
your teeth before nodding.

“I think that’ll be faster than waiting until we’re brave enough.”

Chris nodded and got up, walking to the table and looking down at the three tests with a neutral
expression. The moment was tense, and you grabbed Karl’s hand to squeeze it once, trying to
comfort you both.

“Congratulations, Lord and Lady Heisenberg.” Chris finally announced, looking up at the two of
you with a rare gentle smile. “You’re pregnant.”

All tension left you and you sobbed with relief, turning towards Karl and throwing your arms
around his neck. You kissed him while he remained in stunned silence for another few seconds,
before he put his arms around you and drew you closer. He rested his forehead against your
shoulder, a quiet sob the only indication that he too was crying with joy. One of his hands went to
your belly, resting over it protectively.

Chris watched you silently, getting emotional himself, but not showing it. It was moments like
these that he cherished, the reminder of the beauty of life that he didn’t see too often in his field of
work. He stayed for dinner that night, celebrating the new life that formed inside you.

Week 14

The pregnancy was going rather tame so far. Your symptoms stayed the way they were at the
beginning, not too much nausea or any kind of pain, aside from your sore breasts.

Karl was even more attentive than usual, having regular phone calls with Dr. Lange so she could
help him learn how to best soothe your aches.

Which brought you to this moment: You were sitting between Karl’s open legs with your back
pressed against his chest, both in an equal state of undress on your upper halves. He had propped
himself up against the headboard of your bed, reaching over to the nightstand where he retrieved
the neroli scented oil.

You were shivering anxiously as you watched him spill some oil into the palm of his hand, rubbing
his hands together afterwards to warm them up.

“Try to relax, my love. It’s going to sting at first, but the doc said you’ll feel so much better
afterwards. And the more we do this, the less it will hurt at first.” Karl explained, kissing your
shoulder lovingly.

You tried to relax against his warmth, closing your eyes and pressing your lips together. Your hands
came to rest over his thighs on either side of you and you prepared yourself for the upcoming
discomfort.

Karl cupped both of your breasts with one hand on each, just holding them up for a moment before
starting to carefully distribute the oil over your skin. You tensed up, even at this gentle touch,
hissing quietly and pressing yourself harder against him.
“It’s okay, you’re doing so well.” He murmured into your ear, deeply concentrated on his task.

His pinkie, ring and middle finger stayed at the underside of your boobs, holding them as still as
possible, while his pointer finger and thumb touched your areolas. He started moving his two digits
around in circles, putting a bit of pressure on it as he did so.

Your nails dug into his legs and distantly, you were glad he was wearing pants for this, because
otherwise, that might’ve hurt him. You groaned in pain, Karl kissing your temple as a little comfort.

But he continued steadily on, the circles getting wider in range before he started over again. It took
until the third round of this for the ache to start fading and you exhaled tremblingly, a hum of
gratefulness leaving you.

Karl sighed, just as relieved as you about your discomfort slowly subsiding. “That’s better, isn’t it,
buttercup? I’m gonna do this every single day if that’s what you need.”

“Thank you for helping me.” You turned your head a little so he could kiss you.

Karl did so without hesitation, his hands continuing with the gentle massage as your lips slid
against each other. You felt so warm, your hand reaching down to caress the little bump that
recently started to form. The kiss broke off, but your faces stayed close, both not opening your
eyes.

“I’m partially responsible for our little spawn, it’s only fair I do what I can to make it easier on
you.” Karl said teasingly, nuzzling the tip of his nose against yours.

He slowly removed his hands from your chest, careful to not jostle you too much in the process and
slid them down to your bump, taking in the space next to your own. You were 14 weeks along by
this point and not much was happening yet, aside from your bump starting to form. But already, the
nectarine sized kid was proving to be a strong wiled one, bursting out little magnetic fields every
now and then that would turn you into a walking magnet.

Karl found this to be very amusing, but had taken pity on you, using his own and way stronger
magnetic powers to counter the little ones. You could already tell the child will be a handful. You
wondered how the DNA of the kid will be affected by the Cadou, if perhaps it adapts one of your
abilities or if maybe it creates a mix from both Karl and you. So far, the kid showed you just
enough to undoubtedly confirm who the father is, no sign of your powers affecting it.

You didn’t mind too much, the proud shine in Karl’s eyes every time some small piece of metal got
stuck to you more than enough to make you happy.

“I love you.” You whispered, caressing his arms lazily.

“That’s still a you-problem.” Karl snickered at the reference to your first love confession, even as
you pinched him in retaliation. “But I love you too.”

Week 19

You looked at yourself in the mirror, standing in all your naked glory as you regarded your
everchanging body. Your bump now had a reasonable size to it, showing your pregnant state off to
the rest of the world and you smiled at yourself. The early morning sun was shining into the
bedroom, drowning the room in a soft golden glow.
 Karl was sleepily lounging in bed still, watching you with a little smirk. “I was right, you know.”

You looked at him through the mirror. “About what?”

“You’re absolutely gorgeous looking the way you do.” His voice was honest and full of love as he
said that.

Little tears started to form in the corner of your eyes and you sniffled. “Thank you.”

You had started getting more emotional, especially whenever he said things like these out of
nowhere, catching you wholly unprepared. You’ve read that most women get hormonal during the
first trimester, but you were already in the middle of your second and still overwhelmed easily.

Karl got up from bed, sauntering over and gathering you in his arms. “Oh honey, crazy emotions
again?”

That earned him a soft sob from you. “Y-You’re just so a-amazing.”

Karl chuckled at your annoyed tone as you complimented him. “I know, I know. I’m an ass for
making you all fuzzy.”

“You are.” You sniffled weakly, pressing yourself against his warmth.

A strange feeling washed over you, like a swarm of butterflies suddenly awakening in your lower
abdomen and you froze in confusion. Karl, ever the attentive partner, noticed instantly.

“What is it? Cravings, pain or more emotions?”

You put your hand over the part of your belly the feeling started from, pressing lightly against your
bump until you realized what this was.

“K-Karl, I feel them move!”

“What? For real?” His hand urgently went to your belly, pushing yours away but frowning in
disappointment soon after. “I don’t feel anything.”

You looked up at him in understanding. “Love, I feel them moving inside me. I’m afraid you still
have to wait a while until you can feel them too.”

“Of fucking course, I have to wait.” He sighed overdramatically, gently continuing to caress you.

You adjusted to the strange sensation slowly but surely, smiling at Karl to cheer him up. “They
started to move when you came to comfort me. I’m sure they’re really eager to see you too.”

Karl chuckled again, a shimmer of wetness forming over his eyes. “Wow, you really know how to
get a man worked up, Y/N.”

Chapter End Notes

MINI KARL TIME!! Now I want to let you decide: Do you want me to choose a name for the
child, or would you prefer if I called them S/N for Son's Name or D/N for Daughter’s Name,
so each of you can decide for a name yourselves?
 Little Sunshine (Part 2)
Chapter Notes

Thank you all for your feedback and opinions on yesterday’s chapter! It appears we have two
major teams: One part wants to decide a name for the kid themselves, and the other part wants
the kid to have either of Karl’s parents’ name. To appease as many of you as possible, I have
decided on this and I thank @MischievouslitteBat for the idea: The kid will have S/N or D/N
as a first name, so you can choose their name, and their middle name will be either Klaus or
Ursula, in honour of Karl’s parents. As for the people who wanted me to choose a name, I will
tell you in the notes what I would’ve called them! Let me know what you think!

Week 23

It was a very weird scenario you found yourself in. Sipping tea with none other than Mia Winters,
equally pregnant, with little Rose clinging to her leg. Karl, Chris and Ethan were busy assembling
the nursery, Karl at first reluctant to accept any help with it, but ultimately allowed the company.

Originally, neither the Winters nor Karl and you asked to see each other again. But then Chris
mediated between the two sides, informing the others of the soon to come offspring on both sides
and that sparked interest.

Mia, Ethan and Rose too, are under the protection of Umbrella, meaning aside from people in the
same boat as them, there wasn’t any kind of social life either. So the news of your pregnancy gave
them an opportunity to find a kind of friend for Rose and their second child, even if it was the kid
from you two.

Children need a social network of other children around them, so it was only logical that your two
families at least tried to get along.

The first time you saw each other again was awkward, to say the least, and was mainly to just talk
about everything that happened and playing with open cards. Ethan and Mia obviously didn’t trust
you, which was to be expected, but the fact that you had an equal friend was enough for them to
decide to try this new arrangement. It also helped that you helped rescue Rose in the end.

After all four of you berated said mutual friend, Chris Redfield, about not just fucking telling Ethan
that Miranda had replaced Mia from the very beginning, the two sides found a neutral ground.

So that’s how you end up in this weird scenario, but you didn’t mind it. Mia was very helpful,
giving you tips for your pregnancy journey, explaining certain terms and conditions about your
upcoming birth experience and how she dealt with her aftercare post-partum.

Ethan and Karl found some common grounds to talk about too, both of them being engineers and
very capable in their respective fields. It was actually kind of nice to have them in your lives.
You enjoyed watching little Rose cuddling her mothers bump with an excited grin, so happy about
becoming a big sister soon. Ethan and Mia didn’t tell the one and a half year old about what exactly
happened during that time in the village, for obvious reasons, and you couldn’t help you smile that
the little girl who you watched crystallizing and then being broken apart, was seemingly fine.

“…And then Ethan dropped the ring, and it almost went down the drain, but he caught it in time
and that’s how he proposed.” Mia finished her retelling of their engagement.

You almost couldn’t imagine that the man that killed three Lords with such ease could be this
clumsy. “That’s really cute.”

“So, do you and Karl have any wedding plans?” Mia asked curiously.

You shrugged. “We kinda just brushed over that part to be honest. People refer to us as husband and
wife anyway, so that’s that.”

Mia lifted her eyebrows. “Oh come on! Imagine Karl wearing a suit and waiting for you at the altar,
doesn’t that bring all the butterflies on?”

“…Well, you’re not wrong, that does sound nice.” You admitted, taking another sip from your tea
and then wincing when you felt a short discomfort, like a little jab on your belly.

Mia frowned. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just…I don’t know, just this weird feeling, like I’m being pushed against.” You explained,
the feeling not exactly going away, but getting more manageable.

“Oh! Maybe it’s your baby’s first kick!” Mia exclaimed excitedly, Rose’s little doll eyes drawn to
your bump now.

You laid your hand over the spot, indeed feeling movement from inside, for a moment forgetting
that the little girl with you was starting to pick up words. “H-Holy shit!”

You rushed to your feet as best as you could, cradling your bump as you walked upstairs, panting
lightly once at the top. The three men were busy still, jabbing little insults and mockeries around
like they’re normal pleasantries as you walked in.

“Karl! Get the fuck over here!” You demanded, so loud that even Chris startled.

The man in question was at your side in a second, dropping the hammer he was holding and just so
thinking to use his powers to not let it drop too harshly against the floor.

“What is it?! Are you alright?!”

You didn’t answer, grabbing his hand and placing it on your bump. The little one had stopped
moving around when you got to the stairs, but you pressed Karl’s hand a little harder against you
despite that.

“Come on, do it again.” You pleaded with the child inside of you, and it listened.

Karl’s eyes widened when he felt pressure against his palm, small movements that meant the world
to him.
“Is-Is that…Am I feeling our kid?” He asked, as if it could mean anything else.

You nodded, a little teary-eyed. “Yes, you are. They’re saying hello to their dad.”

He went quiet for a moment before turning around to face the other two men with a harsh glare. “If
either of you ever mock me for what I’m about to do, I swear I’ll kill you.”

He didn’t wait for them to give any sort of answer to his threat, dropping to his knees and pushing
your shirt up. His lips pressed against your revealed bump, Karl pondering you with kisses all over
your swollen belly.

“God, I love you both so much! You’re the greatest gift I could’ve ever asked for.” He whispered
into your skin, hugging your hips and pressing his cheek against your bump while closing his eyes.

Your hand slipped into his hair, gently combing through it. “We love you too, Karl.”

Your gaze lifted to Ethan, Mia having followed you up and having walked around you to get to his
side.

The blonde put his arm around her waist, smiling at her. “Reminds me of when I first felt Rose
move.”

Mia kissed his cheek, teasing him. “Well, you were crying all over me.”

You had to bite your tongue to not reveal that Karl will indeed be crying later on, once the company
had left. Ethan lifted his daughter up into his arms, scowling at his wife, and Chris leaned back
against the wall with a little smile. The beautiful moment got interrupted when Karl pulled away in
a sudden jerk.

“They just kicked my face!” He announced, equally offended and proud. “You’re lucky you’re
already in your room, little one.”

It enticed little giggles from you, which were quieted shortly after as Karl got back to his feet to
kiss you.

Week 30

Once again, you looked at yourself in the mirror, but this time not pleasantly. You loved your
growing baby bump very much, there was no doubt about that, but the stretchmarks it left on your
body weren’t a favourite of yours.

The Cadou made the once fresh red marks fade into normal scar-like tissue within minutes of them
appearing, but that didn’t change the fact that they were still there. They also appeared on your
breasts, the faint lines telling you that their size was rapidly changing as well.

Haunting thoughts had invaded your mind, ones that told you Karl would lose interest in you if
your beauty faded like that, and since you couldn’t stop the marks from appearing, it only pulled
you into a frustrated and desperate sadness.

You couldn’t hold it in, tears rolling down your cheeks as a soft sob pushed through your throat.
Karl was supposed to be pent up in his workstation, but fate had other plans and made him walk
through the doorway right then.
He froze when he saw the state you were in and shame washed over you, making you grab a close
by bathrobe to hide your body from his view. God, he must think you’re ugly.

Karl approached you cautiously. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” You sniffled, furiously wiping the tears away from your face, which didn’t help your
case.

He didn’t like that answer. “Nothing? You’re crying Y/N. Tell me, I want to help you.”

Karl stepped right in front of you, not caging you in but not letting you leave his heated gaze easily
either. Another sob wrecked through you, and you adverted your gaze in shame once more.

“Look, we promised to be honest with each other, right?” Karl reminded you calmly, lifting his
hand to come to rest on your cheek. “Please, it hurts to see you like this.”

You leaned into his touch like a moth to a flame, trembling. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

“Oh, love.” He crooned softly. “Why would I ever leave you?”

A frustrated groan left you involuntarily. “Because my body is ugly! I know that one day, you’ll
lose interest in me.”

Karl froze, his voice taking on a firm tone. “How dare you think like that?”

His hand on your cheek went to your chin, forcing you to look up at his face. “You’re absolutely
fucking gorgeous, Y/N. How could you think otherwise?”

“Because of these.” You said, quieter now, pulling the robe a little to the side to point out your
stretchmarks.

Karl frowned at you even more. “You really think something as shallow as those will make me
leave you? After everything that happened?”

“They’re ugly.” You sobbed, desperate for his touch but reluctant to accept more of it.

“Nope, that’s your pregnancy brain talking right there.” He huffed, leaning down to kiss your
forehead. “I think they’re a sign of your commitment to us. You’re carrying our baby, Y/N, you
could look like fucking Moreau and I’d still stay with you.”

The comment brought a startled laugh to you, Karl taking the initiative and grabbing you by your
hips, slowly walking you backwards towards the bed. He kissed you hard, his hands strong on your
back as he lowered you down until you hit the mattress, your hips just at the edge.

“I’ll show you just how fucking hot I think you are.” He purred seductively, his hands slowly
grabbing the two sides of your bathrobe. “Can I?”

You shivered, the promise of pleasure in his voice clear to you, and the anxiety was forgotten for a
short while as you nodded. He pulled the two sides apart, instantly trailing his lips from your
sternum down to your bump, then to the underside of it where your stretchmarks were. His tongue
darted out, trailing the fine lines with its tip and you trembled at the sensation. He moved further
down slowly, encouraging you to spread your legs for him. He placed a kiss to your clit once you
did so, his hands caressing your sides as his tongue darted out for a taste.
A little moan escaped you, feeling his beard scratch against your sensitive folds. He was slow and
careful at first, tongue idly licking along your slit and then flicking over your clit a few times
before repeating the action. A low groan from him was the only warning he gave you before he
pushed two fingers inside of you, your slickness making sure to have an easy slide provided. Your
hands fisted into the bedding as he started pumping the two digits in and out of you, his mouth
closing over the bundle of nerves and giving it some suction. You arched your back as best as you
could, eyes closed in rapture as he continued pleasuring you.

At some point, you noticed him moaning obscenely as well, struggling up to your elbows so you
could see what he was doing over the hurdle of your bump. The one hand not currently inside of
you was wrapped around his cock in a tight fist, moving frantically up and down his length. A high
keened whine formed in the back of your throat at the image, Karl aiming his fingers to hit your G-
spot with every stroke and sucking on your clit harder.

It only took a few more minutes of this until stars explode behind your eyelids, your orgasm
making you cry out his name as he continued to thrust his fingers into you, intending of drawing it
out. He only let up when you were shaking with overstimulation, straightening up enough for you
to watch him stroke himself still.

With a strangled moan, he came all over you, but it didn’t escape you where he purposely aimed for
and hit the most: Your stretchmarks.

Karl panted heavily, meeting your shocked expression with a smug smirk. “You’re all mine,
darling. Your face, your tits, your cunt and your stretchmarks, so don’t go around thinking I’d ever
let that go.”

The possessiveness in both his words and the way he looked at you brought a little smile to your
lips. Yeah, he wouldn’t let you go.

Week 34

“What are you up to again?” Karl sighed, faking annoyance as you pulled him along through the
hallway towards the bathroom.

You didn’t answer him, just pushed the door open to reveal your little surprise to him. It wasn’t
much: A simple bath being drawn, the bathroom only illuminated by the soft fire of burning
candles and a quiet tune playing from a radio off to the side.

Before Karl could ask, you pulled him further inside, startling to pull his shirt up. “You’ve been so
kind to me throughout my pregnancy, it’s high time I give you something in return.”

Karl rolled his eyes playfully, lifting his arms up to help you pull the shirt off. “You’re carrying my
baby, what else could I wish for? The least I can do is spoil you.”

“And I appreciate that very much.” You assured him, opening his pants next. “But you deserve
some relaxation too.”

“You just want me to bathe, don’t you? Do I smell that bad?” He laughed, stepping out of his pants
and underwear after you pulled them down.

“Not anymore.” You replied teasingly, letting him pull his socks off by himself before ushering him
into the bathtub.
Karl could brush it off all he wanted, but the soft hiss of satisfaction from him, once he settled
down into the warm water, was all you needed to hear. While you are being put through the
physical strain of carrying and growing a child inside of you, dealing with its effects on you, Karl
wasn’t just left out from the pregnancy.

Every day, he’d make sure you’re fed well, that you’re comfortable. He’d hold and cuddle you,
bring you whatever you needed in an instant, sometimes even before you said anything. He’d rub
your swollen ankles, he’d make sure you could sleep as well as possible. Whenever you had
heartburn or your back pain became too much, he was right there with you to soothe your aches. He
was doing everything for you, so this was the least you could do for him.

He sighed quietly, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the rim of the tub. “This is
nice, thanks.”

You sat down on the closed toilet seat next to the tub, reaching over to let your fingers scratch over
his scalp. He loved it when you played with his hair, which wasn’t news to you, but it always made
you happy when he was enjoying himself because of you.

“I should be thanking you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” You replied with a smile.

He turned his head towards you and opened his eyes again. “And you’re not going to find out.”

You huffed a faint laugh. “No, I’m not.”

Karl reached up to your hand in his hair, bringing it down so he could kiss the inside of your wrist.
“If you want to make me really happy, you could join me.”

“Karl, this is supposed to be for you.” You reminded him with a playful roll of eyes.

He lifted one eyebrow in a challenging way. “Okay, and? If it’s for me, then you should listen to
what I want.”

With a defeated sigh, you got up and started to undress. Karl wouldn’t let you go anyway, so why
continue a useless discussion. He spread his legs as far as he could, creating an open space for you
to settle in. The water embraced you just like Karl did, pulling you into its warmth as you settled
with your back against his chest. His arms curled around you, brought hands coming to rest
protectively over your bump, his thumb drawing small circles into your skin.

You closed your eyes and relaxed against him, his chin resting on the top of your head as he did the
same.

“This is even better.” He mumbled, a little sleepily. “Us three, huddled close together.”

Ever the perfect timing, the little one starting kicking, announcing its presence to both of you,
making you chuckle.

“Only around six more weeks, and then we’ll finally meet you.” Karl said, voice heavy with love
and longing.

You couldn’t wait to see them either. “It seems surreal, the nine months are going by so fast.”

“Well, so did the six years since we met.” Karl pointed out. “I’ve spent decades in hell, yet it feels
like it’s all so far behind in the past. As if you’ve been with me for most of it.”
“It does feel like a long time.” You agreed, an uncomfortable heaviness coming over you at the
reminder of the trauma that was the village. “Is it weird that I’m glad I ended up in that hell too?”

“Oh, don’t go too deep into that rabbit hole.” Karl giggled, but it was fake and only to overplay
what he really felt. “Had a very long talk with the therapist once, because I’m…grateful I guess…?
That the witch brought you to me.”

His hands around your belly tightened slightly, a clear fear of Mother Miranda suddenly appearing
and taking your child away manifesting deep inside of Karl’s mind. He breathed through it, a heavy
silence following his statement. This was to relax, though, and you wouldn’t let Miranda invade
your space anymore.

So, you changed the subject. “Do you want the kid to be a boy or a girl?”

Karl huffed, catching on to what you were trying to do and gratefully tagging along. “I honestly
don’t care, either would be fine. Though, I do have to admit I’d like to have the Heisenberg name
being carried on, maybe another Heisenberg boy with the initials K.H. But I’d be more than happy
with a daughter too, even if I have to fight off every person attracted to her if she turns out to look
as cute as you.”

You hummed at the underlying compliment. “I’m fine with either sex too, but I do wish to have
both at one point.”

“So, we’re not stopping at one kid then?” He asked and you knew he was grinning, even if you
couldn’t see it.

“If it isn’t too much of a hardship for you.” You replied, a quiet yawn following.

He scoffed. “Sure, because the pregnancies are so hard on me, of all people.”

“That’s the whole reason we’re in this bath right now, remember?” You reminded him, placing a
kiss on his jaw. “You really should give yourself more credit for what you do for your family.”

“I’ll try.” He whispered it like a forbidden promise almost, kissing the top of your head. “Now let
me rub some soap onto you.”
 Little Sunshine (Part 3)
Chapter Notes

TW: Birth!
Thank you all so much for your encouraging words yesterday! Again, I’ll try my best to write
the next chapter, but I’ll inform you if I can’t do it in time.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Week 36

“Oh, you’re going to love this!” Karl exclaimed brightly, stepping up to your back.

Your back has been absolutely killing you for these past few days, your heavy bump pulling you
down and straining your muscles. Laying on your side didn’t help, and you couldn’t stay
comfortable on your back either. Long periods of sitting would eventually make your hips ache and
the irritation that there was nothing you could do to stop the discomfort made you moody.

One snarky comment on your end resulted in your partner now being committed to making you feel
better, even if you didn’t know how yet. He pressed himself close to your backside, his hands
sliding over your hips and to the underside of your bump, lifting it up.

All air rushed from your lungs with a relieved groan, so much pressure suddenly being lifted off
from your body. You forgot what it felt like to not have a watermelon-sized belly, knees staggering
a bit with the intensity of your relief.

“Good, right? Read that on a post online, other women said it felt absolutely fucking amazing.”
Karl was very proud of himself, holding your extra weight at the front without an issue.

You leaned back against his chest, groaning quietly. “Fuck, you have no idea.”

He chuckled, amused about your reaction to the move, and nuzzled his nose to your hair. “You’re
adorable.”

Karl grew a little distracted and started lowering his hands again unintentionally. At the first pull of
the weight of your bump against your muscles, you tensed up and your hands grabbed his arms
harshly, equally unintentional.

“Don’t you dare stop!”

“Shit, sometimes I forget you’re a feisty bitch too.” He laughed, the insult meant playfully and said
with pride, and he lifted his hands up again, taking the weight off.

You leaned back against him with a satisfied grin, taking in his words with a sense of boast.
“You’re a big strong man, I’m sure you’ll manage to hold us for an hour, no?”

Never one to back down from a challenge, Karl smirked. “Not a problem.”
Week 38

“Hold still…” Karl murmured, deeply concentrated on his task.

You rolled your eyes but did as he asked, keeping your position precisely. “How much longer,
Karl?”

“Don’t stress the artist while at work, darling.” He bent the next metal piece with his powers,
securing it to the others that already covered your belly. “Want to get this nice and accurate.”

You sighed defeatedly, starting to play with your cloud, letting it take on different shapes as it
floated above you. “I still think clay would’ve been easier.”

His lips pulled into a slight snarl. “I’m the master of metal, Y/N, not the master of clay. Don’t you
want me to finish the mould?”

Your expression softened. “Of course, I want you to finish. It’s just uncomfortable sitting for so
long.”

“Okay, we can take a break when I have the first half done, how about that?” He suggested,
grabbing another piece of metal and shaping it to fit around your bump.

Really, you shouldn’t be complaining, as it was your idea to begin with. In one of the books you’ve
read, many women had made a clay mould of their pregnant belly as a token and reminder to the
size and shape your body had taken to give your child a place to grow. Some kept them plain,
others painted them or otherwise decorated them. Karl was thrilled with the idea, instantly wanting
to replace the clay with metal, make it more like something of his own. You liked his added touch,
but didn’t enjoy the process, as it had taken you longer than what the instructions said with the clay.

Little magnetic pulses pushed through your skin and out, the kid making its own powers known,
and Karl was happy to feel it too.

“We’re honestly lucky the kid isn’t that strong yet. Otherwise, this whole thing would be flying at
my head right now.”

“Oh, I can already tell they’re going to be a handful to deal with.” You chuckled knowingly. “But
that’s not farfetched, given the parents.”

Karl hummed in agreement. “But we’ll keep them in check, somehow.”

You tilted your head, teasing. “What exactly do you plan to do with an infant that throws metal at
you?”

“Bold of you to assume they’d hit me.” He grinned, adding another piece. “Come on, as if a baby
could challenge my powers.”

“Guess that’s true.” You admitted finally, hissing in discomfort while struggling to not shift your
hips. “Karl, love, honey, please let me take a break.”

“Oh, pulling out the big guns, I see.” He laughed, taking off the almost halfway done mould and
carefully setting it down to the ground. “Alright, you can lay down for a bit.”
You let yourself drop onto the couch with a relieved exhale, stretching your limbs with a satisfied
hum. Karl sat down on the floor, leaning his head against your bump, listening to whatever noise
caught his interest in there.

“Do you think they’d like to have the little metal dog my father made me?” He asked suddenly,
something heavy pushing through his relaxed exterior. “I know it’s old and not really that
interesting, but…”

You let him trail off, one of your hands going to comb through his hair to soothe him. “They’re
going to love it, Karl. I wouldn’t be surprised if it became their favourite toy.”

He huffed, the hint of a smile appearing over his features. “Wish the little one could meet them. I
may not remember much about my parents, but I’m sure they’d be ecstatic about being
grandparents.”

Words that burned with their need to be said came to the tip of your tongue. “They’d be proud of
you, you know.”

Karl sucked in a startled breath. “You really think so?”

“Of course.” You smiled, continuing to caress his scalp gently. “Look at everything you
accomplished, everything you have fought through. I, for one, am very proud of you.”

“You fucking enjoy making me all sentimental and shit, don’t you?” He took a deep breath, fighting
the overwhelming feelings back down. “You’re cruel.”

“I love you.” You whispered softly, assuring him. “And I know you needed to hear that. Your
parents, wherever they may be, are proud of you…And our baby will be as well.”

He remained painfully silent for a while, and you let him stay in his thoughts for as long as he
needed to.

Eventually, he returned to the world with three words being uttered. “Love you too.”

Week 40

Oh God, the birth could start at any moment now and while a part of you was deeply excited, you
were also terrified.

Karl and you travelled to Umbrella’s secret station in the country you were in, meeting Dr. Lange
there. Chris was on a mission in a different country, so no communicating with one of your few
friends to take your mind off of things.

Ethan and Mia were quite busy themselves, but of course found the time to send you good luck
texts and encouraging words.

Nothing big was happening yet, but you already felt overwhelmed with the whole concept. You’ve
been leaking mucus for a few days now, a sign that labour isn’t far away, but hadn’t felt any other
signs yet.

You laid on your side in the simple hospital bed that didn’t smell anything like your home,
nervously rubbing your hands up and down your belly.
Karl sat next to you on the edge of the bed, one of his hands squeezing you by the hip. “It’s going
to be alright, Y/N. You’re not alone, remember?”

You did try to sound positive, but it was hard as you shakingly looked up at him. “What if
something goes wrong? What if I can’t do it?”

Karl barked an obnoxiously loud laugh. “You? The woman that killed Lycans and an evil witch?
That knocked some damn sense into that thick head of mine? That let herself be struck by lightning
just to help our cause? Believe me, you’re very capable.”

His words got you a little calmer, reaching over to grab his hand. “You’re not going anywhere,
right?”

He shook his head with a gentle smile. “Nothing could get me away from you.”

The day went on without anything happening, Karl and you busying yourselves with casual TV
watching on the small screen, waiting for your kid to decide to say hello.

You settled in for the night, Karl snuggled up to your back and holding you close by your bump.
You were pretty sure he would fall off if it wasn’t for the beds railing on his side, that the nurse had
pulled up.

“God, I wish the contractions would just begin already.” You groaned, tired and annoyed.

“And I thought I was the impatient one.” Karl teased, kissing your shoulder. “Honey, you’ve
managed nine months, I’m sure you’ll manage another few hours.”

You pouted at his response. “It’s not the impatience that’s upsetting, it’s that I don’t know when it
starts. Are we going to wait for another few days, or will the kid pack its things in the next five
minutes?”

His chest rattled with his deep chuckles. “Imagine if they come out holding a magnet, big surprise.”

You clicked your tongue and said nothing, Karl finally deciding to quit with joking around. “Hey,
I’m only trying to distract you.”

“I’m sorry.” You sighed, trying to relax as he caressed your belly. “I know you’re trying to help.
I’m just moody.”

“It’s alright.” He assured you with a little shrug. “God knows how I’d be if I was the one pregnant.
Like those weird little fishes that curl their fin like a pig.”

It took you a moment. “Are you talking about seahorses?”

“Weird name too, who would ride a seahorse? Little cowboy fish?” Karl mused, his voice hushed,
telling you he was talking while half asleep.

You smiled, wanting to turn around to see his sleepy face, but unable to do so in the small space
you shared. So, you decided to close your eyes, laying a hand over Karl’s on your bump and letting
sleep pull you in.

You awoke sometime later, still at night, feeling a weird pressure against your bump. You groaned
and opened your eyes, assuming Karl must’ve been holding you too tightly, but his arm was slack
over your waist. The child in your womb was moving a little, but the pressure was a new kind that
you haven’t felt before, making you frown.

There was no pain, per se, just this pressure so far. Assuming you might just need to use the
restroom, you struggled up to sit.

Karl’s arm fell down to the mattress and he snorted awake. “W…What’s going on?”

You smiled, the sound was very cute. “Just going to the toilette.”

“Need help?” He asked with a mumbled voice, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes.

You rolled your eyes with a little tsk. “I’m sure I can pee on my own, Karl.”

“Strong independent woman.” He chuckled, relaxing back against the pillows as you got up.

You waddled more than walked over to the bathroom, gathering the hospital gown up over your
bump and sitting down once at the toilette.

The pressure didn’t let up as you hoped, growing stronger even and you had to brace yourself
against the wall for a moment to breathe through it. Were those contractions? They feel nothing like
you’ve imagined them to be, so you were apprehensive to call them that just yet.

A shivering exhale and the pressure let up a little. You relaxed, but that didn’t hold for long as you
suddenly heard a loud “POP”, followed by a rush of liquid leaving your body.

“Karl!” You shrieked, clawing at the walls to ground yourself somewhat.

“Thought you said you don’t need help!” The man laughed as he opened the door, the sound dying
instantly once he took you in. “Oh fuck! Is it starting?!”

“I-I don’t know!” You whimpered, cold sweat forming on your skin. “Call the nurse!”

Karl rushed back to the bed, pressing the button to call for the medical staff before sprinting back to
your side. A sharp pain came next, and you almost doubled over with its intensity. Now you were
sure they were contractions.

Karl was trying to help you up, but you refused with another whine, wanting to stay seated.

He crouched down to be on your level, looking at you with a pleading look. “Come on, Love. You
don’t want to birth our baby into the toilette, do you?”

You cringed, both from pain and from that image, finally nodding and letting him help you up. It all
happened so fast, your legs forgot how to work properly with their shock, leaving Karl to bear most
of your weight as he guided you back to the bed.

Just as you laid down, the door opened and the nurse walked in, taking in the scene and knowing
what’s going on immediately.

“Oh! Looks like the baby is coming!” She announced excitedly. “I’ll call for Dr. Lange. How are
you holding up?”

“This fucking sucks.” You informed her, managing a weak smile. “But I’ll manage.”
The nurse rushed back out, leaving you alone with Karl again. He brushed your hair back, grabbing
a hair tie from the table next to the bed that was put there for this very reason, and carefully pulled
your hair into a ponytail.

“What do you need? What can I do?” He asked afterwards, nervous as hell but ready to help where
he could.

You breathed deeply as the contraction let up, the strange pressure remaining. “Just stay here, don’t
you dare leave. If you have to use the toilette, piss yourself instead of leaving me.”

Karl barked a startled laugh. “Good to know you’re still cognitive enough to joke around.”

It wasn’t really a joke, you thought to yourself, looking at the door when Dr. Lange walked in.

“It’s baby time!” She announced with an encouraging smile, pulling a rolling chair to her side and
sitting down on it once she reached your bed. “May I take a look to see where we’re at?”

You appreciated her asking first, nodding and pulling the gown back up, spreading your legs for the
doctor. She pulled on some medical gloves, her fingers carefully inserting themselves and starting
to feel for your cervix.

“Seems like we’re not quite there yet, you’re about 7 cm dilated and we need to wait until you
reach ten. Do you need something to help with the pain?”

“No, I want to do this naturally.” You whimpered, a part of you regretting that decision already.

Karl continued to pet your hair, murmuring soft encouragements as Dr. Lange pulled away again.

“I’ll be checking in on you every half an hour, but please call for us if you need anything.”

Dr. Lange fixed her gaze on Karl. “Make sure she’s as comfortable as possible. Whatever she
thinks helps, you’ll help her with.”

“Not a problem.” He assured her with a firm nod, focusing back on you when the doctor left.

He kissed your forehead, lingering there for a while before pulling away. “I love you, Y/N. You’re
going to be okay, I know you can do this.”

Three hours later

Your contractions were coming in faster and more intensely, your cervix finally fully dilated and a
primal urge to push came over you.

Tears are running down your face as you followed that urge, trying to listen to Dr. Lange’s
instructions and holding Karl’s hand so hard you thought you might even break a finger or
something. You were struggling to breathe, just wanting this to be over with, the pain consuming
your every sense.

“I-I can’t do t-this anymore!” You sobbed, body beginning to tire with the amount of energy you
had to put into pushing.

“You can!” Karl said firmly, secretly feeling powerless and weak, having to watch you go through
the birth pain and unable to take it away.
“Alright, the head is crowning!” Dr. Lange announced.

Despite your head spinning, you reached down to feel it, your fingers gracing over a slick but
smooth surface, that was definitely skin. The feeling and realization that your baby is this close
gave you another energy boost, your body pushing harder. And then everything happened so fast,
you felt like your mind was whiplashing.

All pressure left you together with a rush of air from your lungs, a certain kind of weightlessness
settling over you. Your tired eyes wanted to close, but you didn’t, for there was a loud and shrill
crying in the room.

You looked up at Karl, reality not yet settling in. He was staring at something else, eyes wide and
mouth agape and you followed his gaze. It landed on a baby, covered in blood and mucus which
was quickly wiped off (at least most of it), the umbilical cord cut with professional ease, before Dr.
Lange laid the infant down on your chest.

It finally hit you just what had happened and you sobbed, relieved and in so much love as you
cuddled the still crying child. Karl dropped to his knees next to the bed, a hand shakingly reaching
out to touch the baby’s back.

“Holy fuck, Y/N. That’s our child.”

“Congratulations! Family Heisenberg just received a healthy daughter!” Dr. Lange announced,
happy and proud to have delivered the baby, glad things went so well.

Karl kept his hand on the back of your daughter, protectively almost, and strained his head up to
kiss your wet cheek. The little girl has finally quieted down, wrinkly body relaxed as she seemed to
be asleep on your chest.

“Now, nurse Martha will weigh and measure her real quick, while I’ll help you deliver the placenta
and clean you up down there.” Dr. Lange explained, the nurse not yet approaching because Karl
and you both tensed up at the thought of giving your child over for even a second.

The trauma from what Mother Miranda did to children, mainly Karl and then later Rose, was
sending you on high alert. You were still unable to talk really, just so exhausted and a little
lightheaded, so Karl did it for you.

“Look, I’m not threatening you right now, but just so you know: What Ethan did to get Rose back?
That’s nothing compared to what we’ll do if you don’t bring our daughter back within the next five
minutes.”

The nurse was taken aback, hesitant to approach, so Dr. Lange defused the situation. “Not a worry,
she’ll stay in this room with us. Behind me are the scale and everything else we need right now, so
you’ll see her at all times.”

Karl and you relaxed at her words, reluctantly letting the nurse take your daughter into her arms
and carrying her over to the table Dr. Lange mentioned.

You watched her for a while, until Karl slowly guided you to look at him. He was teary-eyed,
smiling brightly.

“You’re so fucking amazing, Y/N.”

 You managed a weak laugh. “W-We did do good, huh?”

He pushed closer, kissing you with so much love but so carefully too that you felt like your heart
might burst.

“I love you.” He whispered, leaning his forehead against yours. “And I’m so proud of you.”

“I love you too.” You said, eyes closed and you felt so ready to just fall asleep, but didn’t just yet.

Karl took a seat on the chair next to the bed, just as the nurse turned around and brought your
daughter back. She gave her over into Karl’s arms, who looked down at the infant in amazement
and love.

“There we are, all done.” Dr. Lange informed you, and you looked down at yourself in confusion.

“What? I haven’t even noticed you were doing anything?”

The doctor smiled. “Not unusual. All your senses are currently directed at your little bundle of joy.”

You looked back at Karl, the picture with him holding your daughter just downright beautiful.

“Did you two have a name decided yet?” She asked.

“D/N Ursula Heisenberg.” Karl grinned brightly, D/N looking so small in his big arms.

With the help from Dr. Lange and the nurse, you moved around slowly on the bed so they could
exchange the bedding without you having to get up yet. And once everything was cleaned and
checked up, they left you alone with your little family.

You struggled to push yourself back against the beds railing, creating enough space for Karl to lay
down next to you, with D/N resting on his chest, wrapped in a blanket.

You laid your head down on his shoulder, trying to adjust to the new and weird kind of tiredness
from your body.

“She’s beautiful.”

He snorted. “Of course she is, look at the parents.”

Your smile turned into a yawn and Karl kissed the top of your head.

“You can rest up, darling. I’ll be right here with our daughter when you wake up.”

And you followed his lead gratefully.

Chapter End Notes

The baby is here! Just a little PSA: I’m not a mother myself, but am an aunt to eight children,
so I used some of my family’s experiences as a reference for the birth and I hope it’s
somewhat accurate.
Please let me know what name you’re giving D/N! As for me, I think I’d call her Diana, just
think that’s such a beautiful name!
 The Duke's Secrets
Chapter Notes

I love all your name choices in the comments of the last chapter!!

The Duke’s POV

Now, after almost two years, the ritual had finally shown its results.

The first to show any signs of awakening was Lady Alcina Dimitrescu, which didn’t surprise me.
Her willpower is remarkable, after all.

The sleeping beauty was showing small movements, little red pulses of life skimming over her pale
skin, reaching the tips of her fingers, making them twitch.

I just watched, hidden from her direct view in this space between life and death, a temporary home
I had created to perform the ritual in, tugged away safely from the outside world.

The giantess’s golden eyes snapped open, a rush of air being pulled into her lungs, making her gasp
and clutch at her chest. She rolled her head to the side, seeing the bodies of her fellow fallen Lords
beside her and flinching slightly.

I was lucky that Mr. Winters did me the favour of bringing them all to me, which meant I only
needed to visit the Beneviento estate to find Donna’s lost soul and bring Angie back into my
possession.

Lady Dimitrescu sat up slowly, confused and frightened, which didn’t get any better once she saw
the bodies of her three daughters just before her. She scrambled weakly over to their forms,
touching their faces in panic and sorrow.

“Bela? Cassandra! Daniela?!” She called out their names, crying out when they didn’t respond.

I decided it was time to make my presence known, end her unneeded suffering. “My dear Lady
Dimitrescu, fear not, for they are not lost.”

The woman whipped around to face me, anger and fear leaving once she recognized me. “Duke?
What in heavens name is going on? Where are we?!”

I smiled calmly. “You and all the others here with us have found your end at the hands of Mr.
Winters.”

Lady Dimitrescu’s eyes lit up with hatred. “Winters…So does this mean we are dead?”

“Technically, you would be.” I explained. “But I have managed to restore the essence of everyone
affected here, so you’ll be given another chance at life, if you desire for it.”
She relaxed, if only slightly, looking back at her daughters. “Then why am only I awake?”

“Oh, do not worry, Lady Dimitrescu. The ritual that I performed is a little vague in terms of time,
so they will wake up eventually, we just can’t say when.” I put her at ease, reaching into my pocket
to hand her a glass of red liquid. “You will also no longer need to consume human blood, I’ve
created a unique replacement.”

She eyed the liquid warily, but eventually drank to regain some of her strength. “What happened to
the village? Where’s Mother Miranda?”

“Mother Miranda has found her little Eva in the afterlife.” I informed her. “She seems to be at
peace at last, now it's time for the people who got hurt by her to have the same.”

Lady Dimitrescu looked at me warily. “Kind merchant, what are you?”

I laughed, holding my belly while doing so. “Oh, dear Lady, not even I am too sure about that. I’m
neither human, nor an angel or a demon. I am not affected by the Cadou but can’t die despite that. I
am just The Duke.”

At last, she smiled a little. “Then I thank you for all you’ve done. If I may, I’d be honoured to call
you my friend.”

“Of course!” I exclaimed happily, her easy look putting warmth into my heart.

Two days later

The second person to awake was Lord Salvatore Moreau, who threw up the second he opened his
eyes.

Lady Dimitrescu turned her face away in disgust while I just smiled and waited patiently for the
Lord to take in his environment.

“Mother?! Mommy, are you here?!” He called out to Mother Miranda, making Lady Dimitrescu
scoff.

“Dear brother, do quiet down. She is not with us.”

Moreau looked around, spotting the giant Lady and myself and crawling his way over to us.

“Alcina! My sister, where are we?”

“It’s a little complicated. The Duke here is bringing us back to life, one after the other.” She
explained.

Once more, Moreau asked: “Then where is Mother?”

Hurt flashed over the Lady’s features, her tone softening. “Moreau, Ethan Winters has killed us all,
and Mother Miranda didn’t care in the slightest bit.”

Moreau looked aghast. “What? B-But she loved us…”

“I’m afraid not.” I finally brought myself into the conversation, gesturing for the Lord to sit down
with us. “Your devotion is admirable, but it was sadly directed at the wrong person.”
I could tell that deep down, Moreau knew that all along. He adverted his gaze, almost ashamed of
his conflicted feelings.

“Then we’re all alone now?”

Lady Dimitrescu gave him a faint but encouraging smile. “No, Moreau. We’re still a family, if you
want us to be.”

And the fish Lord smiled, showing all his ugly and slimy teeth but that didn’t make the smile not
beautiful. “Yeah, we’re family still.”

One day later

Next were two of the Dimitrescu daughters, Bela and Daniela, that woke up. Their mother pulled
them into her arms, sobbing with relief and happiness at the reunion.

Just a few hours later the last daughter, Cassandra, also awoke, joining into the light and happy
conversation as we all waited for the dollmaker to wake up.

Three days later

It finally happened, Donna Beneviento opened her eyes, her vail slipping to the side as she sat up in
a rush, revealing her Cadou-scared face. She was clutching Angie tightly, panting with panic until
she met our waiting gaze.

“A-Alcina? Moreau, Duke, girls!” She greeted us all, rushing over to our side.

Even though she had taken the longest to awaken, she had the most energy just afterwards. A heavy
silence followed once we explained to her what had happened and where we now are.

Donna finally asked the question I’ve been waiting for, ever since Lady Dimitrescu had opened her
eyes.

“Wait, where are Heisenberg and Y/N?”

Lady Dimitrescu looked stunned and a little embarrassed. “Oh dear, I didn’t even notice they
weren’t with us.”

“Are they dead and reached the afterlife?” Moreau asked hesitantly.

I shook my head. “The fourth Lord and his Lady were partially responsible for Mother Miranda’s
doom in the end. They have settled into a life of normality, one of domestic romance and family.”

“See? I told you guys they had a thing!” Moreau exclaimed triumphantly, his sisters shrugging in
union.

“You can’t blame us for thinking Heisenberg couldn’t possibly attract and keep such a pretty young
thing like Y/N.” Lady Dimitrescu scoffed.

“But they look like a cute couple, Mother.” Daniela said, her sisters giggling to themselves in
agreement.

“Hold on.” Lady Beneviento looked back at me. “You said a life of domestic romance and family.”
I grinned knowingly, nodding. “Yes, as of recently, the Lord and Lady Heisenberg have become
parents.”

“Karl Heisenberg, is a father?!” Alcina looked aghast at the very idea, perhaps subconsciously
moving closer to her daughters. “The poor child.”

“Dear Lady,” I said calmly, “may I remind you that many things have changed in recent years?
Your brother isn’t quite the same anymore, too.”

The first Lord went quiet, deep in her thoughts, not yet believing my words, but well aware that I
only speak the truth.

Moreau spoke up hesitantly. “C-Can we see them?”

As all eyes locked onto me, I opened my arms invitingly. “That choice is up to you. I can either
send you off to the afterlife or take you back to the world of the living. The afterlife might give you
eternal peace but returning to the world of the living gives you another chance at life. One in which
Mother Miranda no longer controls you.”

A heavy silence followed my words, the Lords and the three Dimitrescu daughters quiet as they
needed to decide for themselves what their fate shall be.

“Mother.” Bela looked between her sisters, sensing they have the same wish as her, and then looked
up at the giantess. “We’d like to see the world again. We’ve been stuck in our castle for so long, if
we travel to a warm place, we could finally live.”

Their mother looked at them in kind, gently petting their heads. “My dear daughters, I do wish for
you to live again. And what mother would I be if I abandoned you in this new life?”

Donna looked down at her doll, speaking her thoughts too. “I’m not sure yet. On one hand, if I
leave for the afterlife, I might see my family again. I-I miss them so much.”

She started trembling but managed to swallow her fear down again. “But with Mother Miranda
gone, I might finally get the help I needed for so long. I’m sure my parents and sister would wish
for me to take that chance.”

The last Lord though, shook his head. “W-What life would I have if I went back? I’d just be a lost
soul, no family or friends…I only lived for Mother Miranda, why should I return to the cruel
world? Especially the way I look.”

Lady Dimitrescu gave him a soft and encouraging smile. “Moreau, while I understand your
struggle, you are not alone.”

Donna chimed in enthusiastically. “Yes! We’re still a family, Moreau. We wouldn’t just leave you
behind as Mother Miranda would’ve.”

“Y-You mean that?” The fish Lord asked, perplexed but hopeful. “You’re not just making fun of
me?”

“No, uncle Moreau.” Cassandra assured, flying over to his side and hugging him, not a single care
about the stench. Her sisters followed her suit, Lord Moreau staggering with the added weight.
Donna joined in, Lady Dimitrescu grimacing and reluctantly doing the same.
I smiled at the happy but strange family. “Now, have you all decided?”

Always the leader of the family, Lady Dimitrescu nodded firmly. “We wish to return to the world.”

One week later, Reader’s POV

Your body had finally begun to recover from the delivery, Karl, you and D/N having travelled
home soon after the birth.

The new change to your life was welcomed and very much enjoyable. D/N would wake you up
during the nights, would burst your eardrums with her shrill screams, would sometimes manage to
lift a spoon or something up and throwing it all around the room when Karl wasn’t near you to stop
her…And you loved every second of it.

You had just taken a shower, Karl and D/N waiting for you downstairs and preparing lunch.
Currently, you were starting to put some clothes back on as the doorbell ringed.

It wasn’t unusual per se, some religious folks or lost travellers have already done so, but you still
groaned. You opened the door, the cool air in the hallway making you shiver as you had to leave
the bathroom’s warmth.

“I got it honey!” Karl yelled up the stairs and you sighed, happy to not have to interact with people
right now.

You turned around towards your bedroom when you heard him open the front door, only to stop
dead in your tracks when he slammed it closed loudly.

“Y/N!! It’s the big bitch!” Karl screamed, voice terrified and filled with anger at the same time.

You rushed down the stairs, confused but on high alert. “What?!”

Karl was staring at the closed door with wide eyes, panting in slight panic and cradling D/N in his
arms protectively.

“It’s fucking Alcina! I-I saw her, what the fuck is going on?!”

“Lady Dimitrescu? Are you sure?” You asked, reluctant to believe him.

His head snapped towards you. “Do we know any other big, pale fucking cunts?!”

D/N was whimpering from all the yelling and you shushed her softly, stepping closer to Karl to try
and calm him.

“Alright, take a few steps back and let me see for myself.”

“Be fucking careful, you hear me?!” He growled, the deep wrinkles he always used to have back at
the village returning.

You nodded, walking to the door and slowly opening it. Well, turns out Karl was telling the truth.

“Urgh, finally!” Alcina scoffed. “After all this time, you still haven’t taught him proper manners?”
You just stared at her, bewildered and speechless for a moment, before finding your voice. “H-
How…?”

“Long story.” She sighed, smiling at you. “May we come in?”

You frowned at the “we”, tilting your body a little to see behind her. Moreau, Donna, Bela,
Cassandra and Daniela all stood there in front of your house, grinning and waving at you.

Since you didn’t answer, Karl did and did so loudly.

“Fuck. That! I don’t give a single fuck about how you’re alive, leave right now or I’m sending you
to the afterlife myself!”

You turned around to face him, the voice of reason dying instantly when you took in the picture
you’ve found before you. Karl’s face, contorted in animalistic rage, his arms that still held D/N
shaking with it, holding basically anything metal that was around in the air with his powers.

You know his rage wasn’t directed at you, but it reminded you too much of the look he gave you
when he was hunting you through the factory. Fear and terror gripped you tightly at your throat and
you whimpered, backing away from him and with that closer to Lady Dimitrescu.

Karl’s heated gaze went from his estranged sister to you, the fire in his eyes instantly dying when
he saw your fear of him. Everything metal he was holding up dropped with a loud clank, D/N
getting startled and started crying.

He started to panic, desperation and more hatred mixing in his chest when he addressed Lady
Dimitrescu once more. “See what you’re doing to me?! I see you for one second and have terrified
my wife and made my kid cry. I achieved so much since the village and because of you, I’m turning
back into a monster!”

Remembering the breathing exercises your therapist taught you, you fought through your fear a
little and approached him. You knew you must look a mess to him, and he froze in place when you
came closer to him despite that fear. Shakily, you took D/N from his arms into yours, gently
swaying her in your arms to quiet her down again while Karl just stared at you in shame.

“Karl, p-please let them in.” You whispered, voice laced with fear but no less demanding.

“Please.” He pleaded weakly. “W-We can’t trust them! I will not endanger D/N, they’re here to
avenge Mother Miranda.”

From behind you, you heard soft steps, Donna having approached and speaking up. “No, we’re not.
We know she never loved us, so we turned our back to her when we received this new chance at
life.”

“Why should I believe any of you?!” Karl snarled, trying his hardest to keep somewhat calm.

“Because, if we really wanted you dead, we would’ve tried so already.” Lady Dimitrescu sighed,
tired of arguing. “And because we’re family still.”

Oh fuck, that’s going to set off Karl immensely. Before he could say anything to her words, you
gave him a pleading look. His hard façade stayed on, his jaw setting.
But then he gave a slight nod, carefully but hastily taking D/N back in his arms. “Fine. But D/N
stays with me and I’ll kill them all in a flash if they try anything.”

“I know you will, and I want you to.” You assured him.

After all, you wouldn’t just blindly trust the resurrected Lords too. In the end, their devotion to
Mother Miranda was the main reason why Ethan had to kill them, and it was hard to believe they
just changed, even if two years have gone by.

But you also wanted to know what happened, and why they are suddenly back to life. Karl used his
powers to move around the furniture in the room, dragging them further apart by utilizing the metal
bits in them, putting the metal pieces he could weaponize behind him, ready to be used.

The air was more than tense when your guests entered your home, moving slowly and warily to not
upset Karl anymore than they already had. Said man was watching them like a hawk, ready to
attack them if they gave him any reason to.

Lady Dimitrescu had to stay in a crouched position as she walked, sitting down on the couch with
her daughters next to either side of her. You noticed she was equally protective of them, settling her
arms around the three women.

Moreau carefully sat down on the little metallic folding chair Karl had specifically pulled out for
his use, as it would be the easiest to clean if he slimed the thing up.

Donna sat down on the armchair with Angie in her lap, the doll quiet, but moving around.

Karl sat down on the second armchair that he placed far enough away from them to make sure he
had more than enough time to defend himself against them, but close enough so he could watch
every detail of their movements. He held D/N close to his chest and you settled down on the
armrest next to him, putting one of your hands to his shoulder. You wanted the others to know you
were on his side and would get hostile, if necessary, as well.

“Well, I thank you for allowing us into your house unannounced.” Lady Dimitrescu smoothed
down her dress elegantly.

Karl wasn’t having any of it. “What the fuck do you want?”

“The Duke brought us back.” Bela explained calmly. “Said he’d give us another chance at life, if
we want that.”

“The fat bastard.” Karl growled, but you could tell his interest was peaked at least a little bit. “Then
why are you here?!”

“Because the Duke told us you and Y/N have a child now.” Donna chimed in carefully.

Karl narrowed his eyes at them. “Oh, so you want to get back at me by taking her? I dare you to
fucking try.”

“N-No! We just wanted to see you again, brother.” Moreau whined almost and you clenched your
teeth because you knew what Karl would say next.

“I. Am. NOT. Your brother, fish freak.”

“Karl, please just listen.” Alcina fixed him with her pleading look, something you haven’t seen on
her before.

You remembered how when you first travelled to the castle with Karl, he had used her first name to
show the importance of what he had to say, and it seemed like using his first name had the same
effect on him as it had on her. He drew his lips into a thin line and stayed quiet, waiting for her to
talk.

“I realize how us showing up to your doorstep must look.” The Lady admitted. “But do you really
think I would take my daughters with me if I wanted to fight you? Now that we have a new life?”

“Then what is it? You three were all up Mother Miranda’s ass, so forgive me for not trusting any of
you.” Karl grit his teeth, wanting nothing more than to kick them out of your home.

“I understand your apprehension, we truly were blindly devoted to her.” She admitted, a look of
shame crossing over her face. “But you have to realize; She has taken me in when I needed help the
most, she gave Donna a safe place to stay and the tools to create her precious dolls with, and she
gave Moreau a family when he didn’t have any. We know our respective demises didn’t affect her
in the slightest, which made us realize just how much she manipulated all of us, but you can’t
blame us for falling to her enchanting words of love.”

“Not blame you?” He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Please, don’t try and act like you gave a single
fuck about what happened or who she hurt. None of you tried to help me when she brought me in,
you were all just as cold and heartless as she was.”

“Then how is that any different to you?!” Moreau, of all people, raised his voice, shrinking back
when Karl glared at him in response.

“I had to become heartless, just to make it out of her goddamn clutches and survive.”

“And you think it wasn’t the same for us?” Donna asked, genuinely wanting to know.

As Karl remained silent, Lady Dimitrescu continued Donna’s train of thought.

“Do you think we weren’t affected when she presented us with a little child, skin dyed with blood
and looking barely alive? That we didn’t feel aghast when she told us she murdered your parents?
If we could have, we would’ve tried to help you.”

Karl didn’t say anything, looking down at D/N with a numb expression, as if not knowing how to
feel or what to even say.

So, you spoke up. “I think in the end, the only one who was truly evil and heartless, was Mother
Miranda. She forced us all into positions and places we didn’t want to be in, manipulated us with
her words and love…But she is gone now. We can just be ourselves now.”

A strange sort of energy went around the room, a kind of mutual understanding and acceptance
washing over everyone.

“Uncle Karl?” Daniela asked for his attention, Karl pressing his eyes closed to come to terms with
the title. “Could we see D/N?”
He opened his eyes, looking at the three sisters first before looking up at you, asking for your
opinion because he found himself lost.

You gave him an encouraging smile. “Let them.”

Karl took a deep breath, hesitantly holding D/N a little further towards the three and nodding. Bela,
Cassandra and Daniela rushed to your sides, making Karl flinch a little with their speed, but trying
to keep calm and present them with your daughter.

“Oh, she is adorable!” Cassandra swooned.

“And beautiful!” Bela exclaimed.

“And so small!” Daniela crooned.

Karl was still wary, but let them lovingly touch D/N’s face nonetheless. You smiled a little and let
your gaze wander around the room to the faces of the other Lords. And as they all smiled back at
you, a truthful and calm smile, you knew things could work out with this new kind of family
arrangement.
 The Wedding
Chapter Notes

NOT THE LAST CHAPTER

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Three months later

As expected, it didn’t take Umbrella long to notice the additions to the family, and Chris had a
headache at the mere thought of having to find suitable homes for the houses Dimitrescu,
Beneviento and Moreau.

But then the three Dimitrescu sisters had the brilliant idea of suggesting that Umbrella could build
three houses right in the vicinity of yours, creating a little sort of village. Chris was ecstatic,
because this meant he could keep an eye on everyone much easier, since we’re all in the same area.
Karl looked so mad, you feared he might actually pass out from it. It would still take a lot of time
for him to accept his messed up family (minus Miranda) was back in his life, and much more to
have any kind of real trust in them and their change.

Until Umbrella finish building their new homes, your resurrected friends were staying at the
Umbrella base in your country, giving you at least some quiet time.

Quiet time with D/N was a rare occasion, not that you minded too much, but one thing you did miss
very much: Sleeping through a whole night.

Once more, you were awakened by D/N’s cries in the middle of the night, the infant was probably
hungry again. The cradle was placed on Karl’s side of the bed, upon his insistence, and the father
was quick to take her into his arms.

He sleepily nudged you with his elbow. “D/N needs some boob juice.”

“Wish you’d stop calling it that.” You mumbled, eyes still closed and yawing afterwards. “Give her
some of yours.”

Karl chuckled. “Not sure if that’s going to work, love.”

Defeatedly, you lifted yourself up enough to remove your shirt, dropping it to the floor without a
care. Karl and you propped yourselves up against the headboard, him insisting if you had to be
awake, he would be too. He carefully handed D/N over into your arms, comfortably cushioned with
a pillow so you wouldn’t have to strain yourself with holding her for so long.

You guided the whimpering infant’s head to your breast, realising a quiet hiss when she found your
nipple and sucked on it. The first moments of nursing were always a little uncomfortable, but you
adjusted to the sensation and relaxed with a sigh.
Karl put his arm over your shoulder, pulling you closer to his warmth. “You have no idea how
beautiful you look nursing our baby.”

“Karl?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re cheesy.”

He laughed quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “I thought you loved my soft side?”

“I do.” You assured him, half-asleep again already. “But you’re still cheesy.”

“I’ll give you cheesy.” He challenged, slipping a little further down to place kisses all over your
face. “You’re so sweet, I can feel a cavity forming just from biting you. And you smell like a dream
that I never want to wake up from...”

As he continued with his teasing loveliness, he got a little too close for D/N’s liking, the infant
crying out for just a split second, enough to let you know she was annoyed.

Karl backed off with a little huff. “Jealous little thing, just like her mother.”

You grinned up at him. “She wants mommy all to herself.”

“Kids need to learn to share.” Karl lectured with a lazily smile, settling back into his position from
before.

Comfortable silence followed until D/N had her fill, releasing your breast with a wet plop. Karl
took her back into his arms, placing her over his shoulder and gently tapping against her back.
Once she burped, he settled her down into the small space between you too. You didn’t bother with
redressing, knowing you will leak onto the mattress, but not caring enough to do anything about it.

Karl and you laid back down on your sides, facing each other and protectively putting your arms
over D/N between you, who was fast asleep once again. You just watched her for a moment.
Sometimes you couldn’t believe this little being has grown inside of you for nine months.

Karl’s hand slid over to yours, gliding up your arm until he reached your cheek, his thumb stroking
over your skin lovingly. “I love you, Y/N. It’s strange, I still can’t believe all this is real.”

You slid a little closer, mindful of D/N in between you, until you could kiss him. “But it is real, my
love.”

He sighed, completely relaxed. “I know. Just thought this life would always be a dream, you know?
When Miranda took me, I had to grow up so fast, I wouldn’t even call that time a childhood at all.
And now I’m a dad.”

“And you’re a good dad too.” You added with a tired smile, which didn’t mean the words were said
without love.

“It’s been three months, still have years to go.” He joked, but you knew there was some real anxiety
behind it.
“You’ll still be a good father in years to come, because we both know you went through enough to
know how a good parent should be like.” You assured him, kissing him once more before fixing
him with a firm look. “Now shut up and never doubt yourself like that again.”

Karl huffed half a laugh and closed his eyes with a soft sigh. “Okay.”

Two months later

A wedding was honestly long overdue, you had to admit so yourself. In fact, Karl and you had
overlooked the fact that you weren’t married to the point of Karl not even doing a real proposal.
Just casually during dinner, he had told you he had talked with Alcina and she had pointed it out to
him, so how about getting to it?

But that didn’t mean you weren’t excited about it, quite the opposite. You looked at yourself in
your wedding dress, Alcina and Donna with you giving their nods of appreciation to your bridal
look. Donna had made the dress for you and Alcina did your makeup and hair, which you were
very thankful for.

“You look marvellous, my dear.” The tall Lady complimented you, looking down at her sister.
“And you did a wonderful job with the dress.”

“Of course we did!” Angie was quick to point out, the doll coming to stand beside you. “Look Y/N,
we’re twins!”

“I guess we are.” You chuckled, already getting a little emotional.

And Alcina didn’t make it any better. “You know, I do have to point out you did the impossible;
You turned Karl Heisenberg from a little boy to a real man.”

“I can’t wait to see him in a suit!” Donna exclaimed with a happy little clapping of hands. “I almost
can’t imagine it.”

There was a knock on the door before you could chime in on the topic, Cassandra poking her head
inside.

“Y/N, Uncle Moreau asked if you were ready?”

Oh yes, also something you never expected; Moreau was your marriage officiant. It was quite the
surprise when he had told you he actually had the rights to unite marriages and while it took some
time to convince Karl, eventually you let Moreau take in the place.

You looked up at Alcina with a nervous smile, the giantess giving you a kind smile in return. “My
dear, I’m sure marrying my brother isn’t the worst thing you had to do yet.”

“No, I guess not.” You laughed, taking a deep breath and nodding at Cassandra. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Great!” The middle daughter grinned. “Bela, Daniela, Rose and D/N are ready too!”

Donna picked up Angie and even with her vail, you knew she was smiling at you. “I’ll be taking
my seat too then.”

They left you alone with Alcina, who gave you one last check over before taking your hand into her
much bigger one.
“I thank you again for walking me down the aisle.” You looked up at her, your neck straining a
little.

“Oh, it is my pleasure.” She assured you, squeezing your hand and guiding you out of the room.

At first, you had wanted to hold onto her by her elbow, but given her size, the slightly awkward
handholding it was instead.

“I feel like I’m a little kid next to you.” You giggled, a little embarrassed about it.

“If it is to any condolence to you, I do see you as a sort of daughter.” She shrugged in kind, guiding
you to the meetup point just before the actual venue.

The three Dimitrescu sisters, Rose and D/N were already waiting for your arrival. Instead of having
one flower girl, you decided to have five, not having the heart to decide between them. After a last
check up on everyone, Daniela went in to signal they were ready.

Music started to play and the five went off. Bela was carrying little D/N, while Rose was leading
the troop on, throwing flower petals along the way. You felt your whole body shiver with
anticipation when Alcina and you started your walk to the aisle.

And then you spotted Karl. He was nervously playing with his cufflinks on his suit, his grey hair
tied back into a man-bun and…Fuck, he was always handsome, but him wearing a suit just hits
differently. Chris was at his side as the best man, and on the other side of the small altar was Mia as
your maid of honour. It was a bit of a tight decision for you, but Mia was at your side during the
pregnancy and had helped you immensely, so it felt right to have her as your maid of honour.

The flower girls took their seats next to Donna, Angie and Ethan, the latter of which picking Rose
up to sit on his lap while also holding their newborn second child, Bela still holding D/N.

The walk down the aisle was a little awkward, with Alcina and you trying to adjust to the same
speed, and the obvious trouble you two had to achieve that brought some light laughter to the other
attendees.

Once at the front, Alcina gave your hand over to Karl, looking at him with both pride and awe, like
she couldn’t believe this man was really him, before taking her own seat.

You grinned at the man you have considered your husband for some time already. “You look
handsome.”

“Me? Pah! I have nothing on you. You look like you came straight from the runway.” He said with
a sly smirk, lifting your hand up so he could kiss the back of it.

“Friends and family!” Moreau started with a bright smile. “We have gathered here today to
celebrate love in its purest form.”

“Nothing pure about us.” Karl mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.

You two got lost in each other’s eyes while Moreau did his little speech. You had specifically asked
for him to be quick about it, not seeing the point in drawing the most important part of the
ceremony out. Karl and you were together for so long now, that you have already considered
yourself to be married to him, so really, this ceremony was only deepening that connection.
“…now without further talk, we’ll start with the exchanging of rings. Eh…Lady’s first?” Moreau
looked between you two with uncertainty, not quite sure if that was the right order of things, but
you just went with it.

Mia handed you the ring and you held it tightly between your fingers, looking at Karl with all the
love you had.

“Karl Heisenberg, you’re a complete bastard.” You started off with, making Karl bark out a
surprised laugh. “You’re a hot-headed metal wielding manic and the love of my life. Despite how
we met, what had happened to us at the beginning, I’m happy that I’ve had the chance to get to
know you. The real you. A smart, charming man, soft when needed and hard in the best kind of
ways.”

The double meaning wasn’t lost on the others, Ethan sputtering scandalized, Alcina scoffing and
rolling her eyes while her daughters pulled a face. Karl chuckled with pride though, and that’s what
you wanted first and foremost.

You lifted his hand up, holding the ring in your other. “So, if you do me the honour of becoming
my husband, I promise to be with you through sickness and health. Through darkness and back.”

“Fuck yes, I do.” He answered, his hand starting to tremble a little as you slid the ring on his finger.

“Now, the groom.” Moreau said, Chris handing the second ring to Karl.

He cleared his throat, a blush settling over his cheeks. “Y/N, you gave my life a new meaning. You
taught me that not everything in this world is bad, that sometimes there is light in the darkness.
I…”

He trailed off for a second, taking a deep breath. “I wasn’t always the man you deserved to have at
your side. I did things that I never should have, said things that I never should have. And for those
things, I will forever be sorry for…”

Then he lifted your hand up, looking at you with serious determination. “The last time I put
something on your body to freely bind you to me, I hurt you with it. But if you do me the honour of
becoming my wife officially, I swear to never again betray you like I did then. I’d rather die, than
ever hurt you again.”

You had to swallow hard at the memory of when he tied you to the wall with his cuff on your arm,
little tears springing to your eyes, but you smiled despite that, knowing that your life was so much
better now than it had been on that day.

You nodded shakily. “Yes, I do.”

He carefully slid the ring over your finger, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead as a little apology
for what he had done back then on the last day at the village.

“If anyone takes issue with their union, speak now or remain silent forever.” Moreau said, a little
overdramatically, as if he already anticipated someone might speak up.

Karl quickly glared at your guests. “If any of you dare to say shit, I’m more than happy to use you
as target practises! Not one noise.”
It was a joke, at least you hoped so, but your guests remained silent anyhow. Well, everyone except
for D/N, who chose that exact moment to let out a little gurgling noise, making the others giggle.

Karl rolled his eyes, but with a content smile. “She doesn’t count, my kid and all."

“Then, without further ado, I declare you husband and wife!” Moreau announced, shifting on his
feet in pure happiness. “Karl, kiss her!”

“It’s ‘you may kiss the bride’, fish-“ Karl caught himself when he saw you glare warningly. “…
Moreau.”

Not giving anyone another chance to say something, you grabbed him by the back of his neck and
pulled him into a kiss. He grinned against your lips, his hands grabbing you by your hips and
pulling you closer. Your guests clapped and cheered, but it was drowned out by your overwhelming
love for your now officially husband. When the kiss broke apart, you remained in a loose hug for a
moment.

“I love you.” He whispered into your ear. “And I’m so happy to have you in my life.”

“I love you too.” You sighed, getting emotional and pulling away from him to gently wipe the tears
away from your face. “Good thing Alcina used waterproof makeup.”

He just shrugged, holding his elbow out to you afterwards. “Believe me, even with ruined makeup,
you’d look beautiful.”

You interlocked your arm with his, grinning brightly as you two started walking off back up the
aisle, with Chris and Mia right after you, followed by the rest of the party. Your maid of honour and
best man guided the guests to the main celebration area while Karl and you granted yourselves a
little break. Bela handed D/N over into your arms before you retreated back into the room you were
in with Alcina and Donna before the start of the ceremony.

“So, how does it feel to officially bear the name Heisenberg?” Karl grinned, kissing your cheek
before pressing his lips to the top of D/N’s head.

“Oh, I am very honoured my Lord.” You told him, turning your back to him and nodding towards
the zipper of your dress. “Now help me out real quick.”

“Already in the mood?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, dragging the zipper down your
back.

You rolled your eyes playfully, carefully shrugging the top of your dress off and then taking a seat.
“Or perhaps our daughter just needs to eat.”

D/N instantly went for your nipple once she had access, nursing and looking up at you sleepily.
God, she is so cute, you couldn’t believe she was really yours. Karl took a stand behind you, his
rough hands gentle as he kneaded the flesh of your shoulders.

“By the way, I am very honoured to call you my Lady, too.”

You leaned into his touch gratefully. “You know our first dance is soon. Did you practise?”

“Practised? Please, Chris wanted to show me and was about to dance with me. Could you imagine
the humiliation?” Karl scoffed, looking down your body to watch D/N eat.
“Would’ve been hot.” You sighed, biting back a laugh when Karl tightened his hold on you a little.

“Get your head out of your horny thoughts.” He leaned down and playfully nipped at your ear.
“Still have a few hours to go until I can help you with it.”

You turned your head enough for your lips to meet, Karl squeezing your shoulders and exhaling a
little shivery. You let D/N have her fill, the infant slowly falling asleep in your arms and you put
her down in the carrier Mia had gifted you. Karl and you freshened up, preparing yourselves for the
party that comes next, and eventually you three joined back to the others, who were waiting
eagerly.

Now Karl was apprehensive, to say the least, about having to dance and do so in front of his weird
family, that he didn’t want to consider his family, but kinda does it secretly anyway. It took a bit of
convincing, but eventually he agreed to have just this one dance.

Ethan did you the favour of playing DJ for today and after you set D/N’s carrier down next to Mia’s
own, Karl and you went to the dancefloor.

Everyone went quiet and you saw Alcina pull out her new phone, ready to record. Karl noticed as
well and with a quick flick of his wrist, everyone’s phones shot out of their hands or pockets and
up, high enough for not even Alcina to reach them.

There was united groaning among the guests and you laughed when Karl smugly grinned at them.

“Currently, there are no phones allowed!”

“You’re no fun, Uncle Karl!” Daniela huffed, crossing her arms but with a slight smile still on her
lips.

Ethan bridged the moment by starting the song you had chosen for your first dance, making Karl
tense up momentarily at the realization that he needed spring into action. He avoided the eyes of
the onlookers and focused on you, your face and your beauty, his hands sliding over your hips. You
put your arms up and around his neck, smiling encouragingly. The dance was slow and more of a
swaying of your bodies than an actual dance, but it was perfect.

You idly played with the hair at the nape of his neck, a light blush starting to creep across his face.
He was faltering a little, the eyes of your guests making him nervous.

You tilted your head slightly to the side. “Love, you’re doing just fine.”

Karl took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “I feel ridiculous, never thought I’d dance at my own
wedding someday, let alone with the freak show watching.”

“But it’s kind of nice, isn’t it?” You pointed out. “We have friends and family, it’s not just you and
me that are in alliance.”

“Well, I could live without them, but whatever.” He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant.

You leaned up towards his ear, whispering. “You can act unaffected all you want, but Moreau told
me you tried to console him when he was scared about being abandoned.”

His mouth dropped open a little in a silent gasp, snapping it close fast. “No idea what you’re
talking about.”
“Don’t worry, Moreau, the ceremony can’t happen without all of us there, that’s why-“ You started
to quote what Moreau told you, only for Karl to kiss you to shut you up.

You realized it was also the end of your song, Karl skilfully playing the harsh kiss off as the
dramatic and overly romantic ending to your dance, your guests cheering once more.

“You big softie.” You teased him slyly.

Karl huffed and nudged you with his elbow. “Keep talking shit like that and I’ll tell Chris to get the
divorce papers.”

Your response was an open laugh, making his semi-serious façade drop away and joining in.
Sometime later, when the evening sun would hit and drown you in its orange light, you sat at a
table with the other Lords, watching the dancefloor.

Little Rose was dancing with Angie, who was about her size, the doll spinning around for her. Bela,
Cassandra and Daniela were dancing together, finally feeling free to do as they pleased, no longer
bound to the warmth of a house. Mia and Ethan were slow dancing, Chris just off to the side,
cradling their second child in the meantime.

And your husband? Well, Karl was having his own little dance, holding D/N in his arms and
swaying his hips to the music. Even from afar you could tell she was looking up at him, probably
slowly getting lulled back to sleep in his arms. The picture they made was enough to bring little
tears to your eyes, but your content smile told the others your tears were from happiness.

“I never thought this could be our life.” Moreau sighed, taking a sip from his drink.

“It’s so…normal, right?” Donna agreed, having slid her vail over to show the left side of her face,
comfortable enough for it to not bother her.

Alcina looked at her daughters with motherly love. “A life I didn’t even know we needed. My
daughters look so much happier here than when we were at the castle. Not to mention Karl.”

“Yeah…” You sighed, reaching up to wipe the droplets from your lashes.

“I’m really happy for you two.” Moreau smiled brightly. “He’s a surprisingly good father.”

“I do have to agree with that.” Alcina looked a little apologetically. “I admit, I was rather worried
for the child when the Duke told us about D/N. But seeing him like this? I’m glad he’s allowing us
to see this side of him, even after all these decades of hatred.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, Y/N.” Donna leaned closer, a little hesitant. “In Karl’s speech, he
said something about having hurt you, and I’ve noticed a while ago that you no longer wear that
cuff of yours…”

You sucked in a trembling breath, closing your eyes for a moment to push away the sting of the
memory.

“I-I’d rather not talk about it…Karl and I did some things we aren’t proud of, but they are behind
us now.”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry for being noisy.” Donna apologized, cowering away. “I didn’t mean to upset
you.”
“It’s alright, Donna.” You assured her, releasing a long breath and opening your eyes again.
“Despite what happened, this right here is the reward for all the hurt. We have a home of our own, a
growing family and great friends. The past will always be there, but we are more than what
happened back then.”

You looked over the three used-to-be Lords with a soft smile. “We are all more than our past.”

“Wise words, my dear.” Alcina smiled, lifting her glass a little just as Karl started walking over to
your table.

“Did you all have your fill of cute moments with Karl?” He snarled, with little to no venom behind
it. “I feel holes in my back from all your staring.”

“I can assure you, we were only talking good things about you.” Alcina grinned at him, with a
meaning behind it that made Karl instantly question the truth to her words.

“Yeah, sure.”

Using his powers, he pulled the chair next to you out from underneath the table, slowly sitting
down to not jostle D/N as much.

“It’s getting kinda cold, where’s her blanket?” He asked you, already looking around.

You reached underneath your chair to the bag you had placed there, pulling out the blanket that had
little hammers stitched into it, a gift from Donna.

As you carefully wrapped her up in it, while letting her remain in Karl’s arms, Moreau spoke up
hesitantly.

“Can I hold her?”

Instantly Karl glared at him warningly. “One fucking drop of your filthy slime on my daughter, and
the next family event is your funeral.”

Moreau whimpered and Alcina rolled her eyes. “Don’t pressure him! That won’t help with his
anxiety.”

Karl pursed his lips, nodding towards the Dimitrescu sisters. “Would you let him hold any of them
if they were this small?”

And the tall Lady pulled a face, despite doing her best to hold it in. “…Okay fair point.”

“Yes, Moreau, you can hold her.” You finally answered him, pinching Karl’s side when he was
about to protest.

With a grin that showed off all his teeth, almost animalistically, Karl handed D/N over into
Moreau’s arms, who held her protectively against his chest.

Karl leaned back and put his arm around your waist, kissing your temple. “And? Is today all you
ever dreamed of?”

You turned your head to nuzzle your nose against his, closing your eyes. “Everything and so much
more, my love.”
“You two are so adorable.” Donna sighed, leaning her head against her hand. “I’m so happy for
both of you.”

“Yes, I am as well.” A genuinely friendly smile crossed over Alcina’s red lips when she addressed
Karl. “And I mean it, Karl. I know you don’t appreciate it when I call you brother, but even if not
by blood, I do see you as such. And I am very proud of the man my brother has become.”

Karl looked at her quietly for a moment, contemplating about how to respond to her kind words.
“…Thank you, Alcina.”

“Mother! Mother!” Cassandra rushed over to your sides, with her sisters following close by,
giggling excitedly. “Did you see us dance? Did we look pretty?”

“My dears, you always look pretty.” Alcina smiled at them, happily tilting her head to bear her
cheek to them so each could place a kiss there.

Chris approached the table now, having given the child he was holding back over to the parents.
“The Winters are preparing to go home. Do we wanna head out too?”

Karl grinned up at him smugly. “Sure, I can’t wait to ravish my wife all night.”

“Karl, your child is right here.” Donna gasped, almost offendedly.

“Hey, at least I’m being honest.” He laughed, looking back at you. “So, Lady Heisenberg, do you
want to leave?”

“I am amenable, my Lord.” You leaned in for a quick peck before getting up.

The three houses were finished being build recently, and the other Lords have moved in already,
which proved to be quite the convenience for today. Once everyone was back home, and you had
nursed D/N again, you handed her over into Lady Dimitrescu’s arms.

You’ve never let her out of your sight for longer than maybe ten minutes, and you worried your
bottom lip as you watched her sleeping in Alcina’s arms. You didn’t have to give her over for a few
hours, until she needed to be fed again, but you also saw the importance of time alone with just
Karl. It’s been so very long since it was just the two of you.

The giantess spoke to you in kind. “Do not worry, no harm shall come to this beautiful little bean.”

Karl growled warningly. “It better not, or I’m gonna give you even more of a hard time, sister.”

“Oh please, we’re right next door.” She rolled her eyes at him, but you knew she understood your
apprehension.

With determination, you grabbed Karl’s hand and smiled. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Karl reciprocated your smile almost reluctantly, reaching up and gently petting D/N’s head.
“Alright, have fun with your super-sized Aunt, little one.”

Alcina said her goodbyes for now, turning around and walking to her new home, the girls holding
the door open for her and closing it once she was inside. You looked after them for a moment
longer before you let Karl tug you towards your own house.
He opened the door and swiftly swiped you up and into his arms, bridle style of course. “Now, let
me carry you over the threshold.”

You giggled and pressed a kiss to the underside of his chin as he carried you inside. Using his
powers, he threw the door closed and headed for the stairs and once on the second floor, to the
bedroom. Only then did he allow your feet to touch the ground again, keeping his arms around you
from behind.

You watched him through the mirror you had in your room, one of your hands slowly reaching up
and behind Karl’s head, pulling the hair tie away and letting his grey waves run free.

Karl nipped at the top of your ear, voice low and seductive. “Is my wife in the mood for some good
old-fashioned fucking?”

You leaned your head back against his shoulder, snickering. “Oh, however could I escape your
charms?”

Karl chuckled too, but what he said next was meant with all his heart and seriousness. “Listen
buttercup, I know we haven’t done anything since the birth, but that doesn’t mean we have to now,
if you’re not ready for it.”

“I appreciate your concern, honey.” You said honestly and gratefully. “But we didn’t give D/N over
to Alcina just so we could cuddle.”

“Guess not.” He agreed, his hands gliding from your hips and up your back.

He stepped away a little, his fingers grabbing the zipper of your dress but not yet opening it. “May
I?”

“Such a gentleman.” You said in a teasing tone, nodding and then sighing when he unzipped it.

You shrugged free of the garment and let it pool around your feet, your bra following shortly after
when Karl undid the clamps with his power. He stepped up closer to your back again, his warm
hands cupping your heavy breasts and giving them a carefully squeeze. You watched him explore
your body as he wanted, some anxiety creeping back up once you took in the aftermath on your
body that it had to take during the pregnancy and birth.

Karl sensed it and immediately stopped it from ruining your mood. “You’re so goddamn sexy, Y/N.
I had to imagine Moreau naked when you walked down the aisle, otherwise I would’ve gotten a
hard-on in front of everybody.”

As if to prove his point, he rubbed his grown against your butt, drawing your attention to his
hardening cock.

“And don’t you dare ever think otherwise. You’re gorgeous, both your body and your soul.”

His words washed over you like hot lava, setting your body on fire and making wetness form
between your legs. Then, a request came to the front of your mind, one that startled you a little, but
the more you thought about it, the more you wanted him to do it.

“…Karl, kiss my neck.”

Karl froze in place, his eyes that he had closed when he started rubbing himself against your body,
opening back up and looking at you with concern. “W-What?”

Gathering all your courage, you tilted your head and exposed the side of your neck to him. You
repeated yourself calmly. “Kiss my neck.”

“Y/N, are you sure about this? I don’t want to trigger you.” He asked again, swallowing thickly.

“I used to love it when you would kiss my neck, cover it in beautiful marks of your love for me.”
You confessed, anticipation tingles running over your skin. “I-I still don’t want your hands near it,
but I want to feel your lips on my neck again…That is, if you are comfortable with it.”

Karl still looked hesitant. “Okay, we’ll try it. But if you want to stop, you say so immediately.”

You nodded, closing your eyes and stretching your neck a little farther still. Karl didn’t move for a
few beats, but then slowly lowered his head down towards your neck. Goosebumps erupted all over
your arms and down your back when you felt his breath against your skin. And then he kissed it,
careful and soft slides of lips.

You didn’t expect it to have such a huge impact on you. Your toes curled and you pressed yourself
closer to his warmth, moaning shakily. Karl groaned and jerked his hips against your backside, his
mouth pressing more firmly on your neck, fuelled by your encouraging noises. One of his hands
slid down your body and to your front, pushing into your underwear, his fingers starting to rub your
clit. You already felt weak on your feet, but then Karl gently sucked on your skin, pulling it
between his teeth and letting a bruise form to adore you.

Your knees bucked a little and he stopped with his ministrations, moving you over and laying you
down on your bed.

He grinned down at you smugly, biting his lower lip. “Fuck, forgot how amazing it is to see those
marks on you.”

Your skin on your neck was throbbing slightly, but not painfully, and you traced over the spot with
your fingers. Karl remained standing and grabbed his tie, undoing the knot and pulling it away,
followed by his suit jacket. You sat up when he started to unbutton his shirt, letting it too drop to
the floor before reaching for the hem of his undershirt and pulling it over his head too.

Not only your body had changed in recent times, but also his. Since he wasn’t working with as
much heavy metal anymore, his body had gained a little bit more roundness over his stomach, his
physic now what is most commonly referred to as a Dad Bod. You knew he was self-conscious
about it, his advice he always preached to you about loving your body, seemingly not applying to
his own.

A light blush coloured over his cheeks when you leaned forward and kissed his extra fat, looking
up at him afterwards.

“You’re sexy too, by the way. Don’t ever doubt that I love your body just as much as I love your
personality.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at your display. “Fucks sake, I love you so much.”
You winked at him before sliding down until your knees hit the floor, making him take a step back
to give you the needed space. You reached up and opened his fly, never breaking eye contact as his
pants and then underwear pooled around his feet.

You took his straining cock in hand, pumping up and down his length a couple of times before
kissing the glistering tip. Karl exhaled shakily, letting his head drop back in satisfaction as you
trailed a path over his sensitive flesh with your lips. Once back at the tip, you closed your lips
around it and gave a light suck, making his hips twitch with their need to thrust into your willing
mouth. You bobbed your head in slow and leisure movements, taking more and more of him into
your mouth and eventually throat. His hands gathered your hair and held it together at the back of
your head, just holding it and not using it to guide your movements.

You moaned around him when you tasted his salty precome, the vibrations making him hiss and
pull away hastily.

He squeezed the base of his cock hard, starving his apparently close orgasm, looking at your almost
accusingly. “You and that mouth of yours, always making trouble.”

You smirked at him, moving back up and onto the bed. “What’s wrong with that?”

Karl rolled his eyes and shoved you down to lay on your back, crawling over your body and kissing
you hard. His hands grabbed your underwear and pulled it off, your slickness connecting it to you
with a thin threat for a moment before it broke apart. He was more gentle again when he kissed
your neck, slowly moving down your body until he reached his goal. You spread your legs for him
invitingly, trembling with need when he spread your folds apart.

His heated gaze met yours, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. “You know, I never properly
thanked your cunt for all the trouble it had to go through. Let me remedy that…”

Your clit got enveloped by the heat of his mouth, his tongue flicking against the sensitive bud
repeatedly. You stretched your arms above your head, fingers grabbing at the bedding to ground
yourself.

“Shit, you’re so good at this.” You praised him, hips shifting as your body wanted to grind against
his willing face without shame.

He licked a long, flat stripe over your slit, kissing your mound and looking up at you. “Touch your
tits, darling.”

A flustered moan left your lips as you listened to his demand, handling your breasts and nipples
carefully to avoid any milk spilling. Karl dived back in, eating you out like a man starved, adding
his fingers into the mix and making your thighs shake with the intense pleasure. Once he was sure
you were stretched and wet enough, he pulled his fingers out, inspecting your glistering slick with a
smugly satisfied grin.

He leaned back over you, placing his fingers on your bottom lip. “Open up, my little slut. It’s high
time you get a taste of yourself.”

There was nothing that could hinder you from opening your mouth for him, letting his fingers slide
inside and against your tongue. Your lips closed around the digits, sucking on them and
whimpering at your own taste. When he pulled his fingers out again, a thin threat of spit connected
them to your mouth, Karl shuddering at the display you provided him. He kissed you again,
demanding and with pressure, as if he couldn’t hold himself back anymore.

He pushed himself back up, grabbing his discarded pants and searching through the pockets until
he found a condom.

You raised an amused eyebrow at him. “Did you carry that with you all day?”

“A wedding gift from Chris.” He chuckled, opening the foil with his teeth before pulling the rubber
out.

Karl sat down next to you and rolled the condom over his cock, groaning quietly at the stimulation
before looking at you expectantly.

“Any suggestion as for positions?”

You didn’t have to think long, rolling over to your stomach and spreading your legs for him just
slightly. “Remember the first time we did anything sexual?”

“When we came in our pants like some blushing virgins? Could never forget.” He laughed,
straddling the back of your thighs and rubbing his length against the crack of your butt.

Slowly, he guided the tip to your wet heat, parting your folds and positioning himself at your
opening. He leaned forward until he could hold himself up on his forearms, placing a gentle bite to
your shoulder.

“You ready?”

You nodded, anticipation making you tremble when you felt him starting to press against you more
insistently. Your walls accepted him instantly, pulsing against his cock as if to tell him they missed
his company dearly. He bottomed out without issue, dropping himself down to lay flush on your
back, his hands reaching underneath you to grab your boobs again.

“Fuck, you feel so fucking good.” You moaned, letting your head drop against the mattress.

He kissed the back of your neck, lingering there for a moment. “You feel absolutely fucking
amazing, too.”

And then he started to thrust, and you felt yourself lose track of time and space, your mind getting
consumed by his presence until you couldn’t think of anything else but him. His lips on your skin,
his filthy words whispered into your ear, his rough hands that kneaded your tits, not caring that it
caused some milk to spill from them, and of course his throbbing dick moving inside of you.

When your orgasm hit, your body spasmed with its intensity, but Karl’s persistent weight on you
stopped it from moving in such an uncontrollable manner. His own high followed shortly
afterwards, grinding himself into your warm body as he spilled his seed into the condom. It was
almost a shame, you thought, having gotten used to feeling his cum being pumped inside of you,
and missing the feeling. But well, a second child this soon would be anything but good for your
body right now, Cadou or not.

He slumped against you with a tired but satisfied sigh, kissing your cheek. “Now we have officially
consummated the marriage.”
Your chest rattled with laughter. “I swear, you say the best things after sex.”

“Well, sex is great, but being funny as fuck is great too.” He chuckled, pulling out and rolling over,
onto his back next to you.

You whined at the loss of his warmth against your back, pouting at him while he pulled the condom
off and tied a knot at the end of it.

“You look ridiculously cute.” He teased, kissing the pout away from your lips before getting up to
his feet.

He vanished into the hallway, reappearing shortly after with a wet towel in hand, gesturing for you
to roll over and spread your legs for him. He was gentle when he cleaned you up, looking you over
to make sure he hadn’t hurt you on accident. This too felt so much like your first sexual encounter
with him, the care he showed for you and your body, the way he would make sure you’re totally
fine before, during and after sex.

Once he was pleased with his work, he wiped himself clean and discarded the towel into the
laundry bin, yawning loudly afterwards.

You stretched your tired muscles before sitting up and nodding at his side of the bed. “Go make
yourself comfortable, Love. I’ll go get D/N back.”

Karl looked grateful to hear those words, grabbing a fresh pair of underwear and pulling them on
while you texted Alcina. He settled down onto the bed, handing you some fresh underwear for
yourself that you pulled on. You grabbed your bathrobe, putting it on before making your way
downstairs.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, you could already hear the tell-tale shrill crying of a baby and
rushed to open the door. You had expected to go to Alcina’s house to get her, but the giantess
brought D/N over instead, looking exhausted.

“Oh shit, are you alright?” You asked, surprised more than anything.

Alcina handed D/N over into your arms with a tired snarl. “Yes, I’m alright. Just hadn’t expected
such a small creature to have a voice with the volume to vanquish her fathers, nor that she would
throw metal at my daughters and me when upset.”

You gently shushed D/N’s cries, looking up at the Lady apologetically. “I’m sorry, she isn’t usually
like this.”

“Yes, well, she’s your problem once more, so no worries.” She sighed, turned on her heel and
walked back to her own home to settle for the night.

D/N was grabbing blindly at you, clearly hungry once more and as you walked up the stairs, you
pulled your bathrobe apart to free your breasts, starting to nurse her. You walked into your bedroom
with a concerned façade.

“What’s wrong?” Karl asked instantly.

You slid into bed next to him, making sure D/N could feed still. “Nothing’s wrong, it’s just that
Alcina told me D/N has been acting up with her magnetism while at her place, and that never
 happened before…”

Karl’s body started to shake slightly and you turned to look at him, his face betraying that he was
doing his best to not burst out laughing. You frowned at the look on his features, until you got a
hunch for what was so funny.

“Karl, you didn’t by any chance stop holding her powers back, did you?”

Now he was laughing, throwing his head back and grinning proudly. It was all the confirmation you
needed.

You tutted at him disapprovingly. “Karl, that’s mean! Why terrorize Alcina with our daughter?”

He held up his hands in an innocent gesture. “Hey, her daughters tried to bite us on way more than
one occasion, I’m only getting back at her.”

You rolled your eyes at him, but your smile was fond. “I should’ve guessed as much.”

Chapter End Notes

Thank you all so much for being this patient with me, work has been really draining this week
and I couldn't write as fast as I normally could. I can't say when the next chapter will be
finished, but never fear that I won't finish this story❤

Also, let me know what your song with Karl is! Mine is "The Book Of Love" from Peter
Gabriel 😍
 Family, For Real This Time
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

One month later

D/N was now already over six months old and was getting more and more active as the days passed
by. She was rolling over from her back to her tummy fairly well, holding her head up high and
exploring what was within her reach. She was curious about pretty much everything and sometimes
you thought she was frustrated that her body wasn’t ready to move around as freely as she wanted
to yet.

She had also gotten the hang of sitting…Well, kinda. She couldn’t get into the position by herself
and was a little wobbly still, but the worst thing about it was when she wanted to lie back down.
She’d started to just drop herself, not having a good concept of consequences yet, which wasn’t a
problem at first, since Karl and you only let her sit on soft surfaces like the bed or the sofa. But one
day, Karl had let her sit around on the floor and had to scramble closer to catch her when she let
herself drop back again. It was an eventful time, to say the least.

Currently, you three were eating dinner. Karl and you had started to feed her baby food in between
nursing her, the mush of fruits not looking appetising at all, but was apparently really fucking tasty
to her. This time, it was Karl’s turn to feed her and while you had taken to the habit of feeding her
first and then eat yourself, Karl would always try multitasking with feeding her and eating himself.
And anytime he took a little too long to give her another spoon full of her own food, she’d yell at
him.

Karl huffed when D/N screamed, spooning her some food again. “Damn kid, I know patience isn’t
a strong suit in this family, but fuck, you’re on a new level.”

Cursing with a baby around wasn’t the most ideal, or so most people thought, but Karl and you had
been talking like that for so long now that it was hard to avoid it. In the end, you reasoned it didn’t
really matter if your child cursed like a sailor, as long as she stays safe while doing so.

You grinned slyly. “You just have to be faster, dear Papa.”

“Shut up, this doesn’t concern you.” Karl rolled his eyes at you, but his lips pulled into a smile
anyway.

He leaned closer and into D/N’s face, crooning at her. “Mein Mäusschen just needs to learn what
patience means like her Dad had to.”

D/N put her hands on his face, smudging the baby food into Karl’s beard, who hasn’t realised he
had held the spoon close enough for her to start fiddling with it. He pulled away with a little
grimace, reaching over and taking a napkin in hand to wipe it off again.

“Mein Mäusschen?” You asked, never having heard him call her that.

“Means mice, or little mice. In Germany, it's usually used to describe something small and cute
that’s dear to you.” He explained with a shrug, dipping the spoon into the mush once more before
feeding it to D/N.

“And when exactly have you learned to be patient?” You snickered at the offended look he gave
you in response.

“I’m putting up with your shit, so there’s that.” He smirked, taking another bite of his own meal.
“And I am not the one who’s trying to push our kid into saying her first word.”

You rolled your eyes. “Oh please, you just know you’ll lose the bet and are trying to draw it out.”

Then you reached over to pinch his arm playfully. “And I am not pushing her, dumbass.”

Karl just laughed, focusing back on feeding D/N so she wouldn’t cry out in anger again. The bet
you two were talking about was simple; D/N had also started babbling, cute little sounds that didn’t
mean anything yet. But it was only a matter of time for her to say her first word and your husband
bet that it would be “Da-Da” or something along those lines, so you of course had to bet against
him and predict she’ll say “Ma-Ma“ first. You recognized that her first word could also be neither
of those, which would mean Karl and you both lose.

“Oh, we’ll see who’s gonna win, won’t we Mäusschen?” Karl teasingly tapped D/N’s nose with the
spoon, making her giggle and do little grabby-hands in his direction.

Taking pity on her, he took her out of her angled high seat (basically a baby-chair that’s tilted back
to a certain degree so she’s more lying than sitting) and sat her down on his lap, leaning back a little
so she could rest with her back against his stomach. One of his hands stayed over her belly, making
sure she wouldn’t fall.

You bit your bottom lip, having a bad intuition. “Karl, I don’t think you should have her sitting like
this while eating.”

Karl fed her another spoon, shrugging. “Why not? She can’t fall, can’t choke and is perfectly safe
right-!”

D/N slapped her hand down hard on the bowl with her baby food in it, sending it flying and the
mush to sprinkle around. Most of it hit D/N herself or Karl, but you weren’t left out of the ordeal.
You blinked at Karl, both shocked and smug, his bewildered expression highly amusing. D/N
laughed and played with the mush, smearing it around and then eating it straight from her tiny
hands. You held your hand over your mouth to stop yourself from laughing too.

“…Well, didn’t see that coming.” Karl finally sighed, looking down at the mess he’d now had to
clean up.

You pouted condescendingly, smirking right after and getting up from your chair. You walked
around the table and kissed his cheek.

“Go upstairs and make sure you two get cleaned, I’ll clean up this mess.”

He tilted his head a little to kiss you, mumbling a quiet “okay” before getting up with D/N in his
arms. You looked after them with a content smile before starting to clean up.

One month later

“Ouch!” You startled, pulling your nipple out of D/N’s mouth, who cried out in protest at having
her meal taken away.

You tried to shush her. “J-Just a second, honey. Fuck, that really hurt. What the hell was that?”

As you examined your breast to see what had hurt you, D/N continuing to whimper and cry out,
Karl walked into the bedroom with a concerned expression.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, something just hurt me.” You sighed, the pain has faded already but you still
couldn’t figure out what had caused it in the first place.

Karl sat down next to you, he too trying to calm your daughter, at least a little bit. “Do you want me
to take a look?”

You nodded and turned your body to give him easier access. He examined you and soon found two
little indents just on the underside of your nipple, at the edge of your areola and frowned. He sat
back a little and thought for the reason for those, but D/N’s outraged cries wouldn’t let him. So, he
picked her up into his arms and cradled her so she would quiet down, spotting two white spots in
her mouth by chance.

His thumb gently pulled her bottom lip down, his face forming into a wide grin. “Well, would you
look at that, D/N has teeth.”

“What?” You pushed yourself up so you could see, indeed finding two little teeth that were starting
to push themselves out of her gums in the middle of her lower jaw.

“So, she fucking bit me?” You groaned at the realisation. “Which means every time I nurse her
from now on I have to submit to her teeth?”

“I’m sure it was an accident.” Karl chuckled, handing her back into your arms and guiding her
mouth back to your nipple. “And D/N will blow out our eardrums if you stop nursing her.”

You leaned back with a little huff. “I hope she bites your finger at one point.”

Now that you knew they were there, you were more aware of her little teeth at the underside of
your nipple, gracing your skin every now and then. But at least not biting you anymore.

Karl kissed your forehead. “You survived Lycans biting you, I’m sure D/N’s bite can’t be worse.”

“I beg to differ.” You chuckled, relaxing again and letting D/N have her fill in peace.

The first Christmas

Despite being away from the village for almost three years now, you’ve never celebrated Christmas
with Karl. Neither of you really got a visit from the Christmas spirit, Chris being off to celebrate
with his sister, just like the Winters were celebrating on their own.

But this year, you not only had D/N to celebrate with but also some more additions to the family.
You were all invited to come to house Dimitrescu for the gathering, but Karl wasn’t as excited
about it as you were.
“Still don’t get why I have to go.” He grumbled, watching himself in the mirror, wearing the dark
green sweater you picked out for him. “We could’ve celebrated alone.”

You pulled a Santa Claus hat over his head from behind, laughing. “Oh come on! It’s gonna be fun
and you look like a 2$ version of Santa!”

You picked D/N up from the floor, holding her out to him to show off her cute Christmas outfit.
“And look how adorable she is! We can’t keep such a gift to ourselves.”

Karl rolled his eyes, but a fond smile crossed his lips anyway, pulling the hat off again. “Fine, but
I’m not wearing this shit.”

D/N giggled happily as he put the hat on her head instead, excitedly holding her arms out to him
and kicking her legs in the air. You gave her over to her father, who pulled her close to his face so
he could ponder her with kisses all over, causing the hat to slip and fall.

“See? You’re the only one moping around here.” You pointed out teasingly.

“She doesn’t count,” he stated, “she’s a baby, she’s excited about everything.”

You rolled your eyes, starting to walk towards the stairs. “I guess you don’t want your gift then.”

His head snapped towards where you went off to and you heard his footsteps follow you down the
stairs.

“Gift? You have a gift for me?”

“Of course I have.” You grinned, bending down to put your shoes on.

Karl seemed a little bit more motivated, putting D/N on the ground before walking off to get his
shoes to put them on. D/N had started to crawl, and she used that new ability to go after him, crying
out in outrage.

“Mäusschen, don’t worry, Daddy’s not going anywhere.” He assured her, trying to move around her
to get to a free spot where he could put the shoes on without accidentally stepping on her little
fingers.

D/N continued to go after him until finally accepting defeat, sitting down and starting to cry
instead. You went over to her and picked her up.

“Oh darling, it’s okay.”

Finally managing to put his shoes on, Karl rushed back over to your side worriedly, rubbing over
D/N’s back. Your daughter hated it whenever she wanted attention and didn’t instantly get it, or
when she wanted to be in your arms, but you couldn’t pick her up at the moment. The behaviour
was normal, Mia had assured you, but whenever she acted like that, Karl would get anxious.

He had started to associate her behaviour with his own abandonment issues, thinking D/N felt like
he would leave her behind. His last therapy session was all about that, his fears of his child either
starting to hate or fear him, thinking he would ever leave. He knows what it feels like when the
world abandons you as a child, and he doesn’t want her to have to go through those emotions as
well. You helped him where you could, reminding him that she also acted this way when she was
with you, and that she would eventually learn to react differently to you not immediately giving her
what she wanted.

D/N relaxed again, rubbing her tired eyes and snuggling against your chest.

You smiled at Karl encouragingly. “See? Everything’s fine, love.”

Karl nodded, taking a deep breath and smiling again too. “Yeah, we’re fine.”

“Now come on,” You urged him, walking towards the door, “or Alcina has our heads as the main
course.”

The bags with the presents were already at Alcina’s place, as she wanted to put them all under the
Christmas tree, she had put up beforehand, get really into the Christmas spirit. After the short walk
over to her house, you walked right on in, not bothering to knock since you knew Alcina didn’t care
too much. Their home was warm and bright, fairy lights pretty much everywhere, the smell of a
meal being cooked in your noses along with something sweeter, like chocolate.

Voices were filling up the space already when you three walked into their living room, greeting
everyone with a bright smile.

“At last! Family Heisenberg decided to join us.” Your hostess rolled her eyes, crossing her arms
over her chest. “You know you don’t have to be late every time we’re gathering.”

Her implication being on the many times you two were the last to arrive at the family meetings
back at the village. Karl shrugged and pointed at D/N with his thumb.

“Got a kid, we have all the excuses we need.”

“And the cutest kid, might I add!” Angie jumped down from Donna’s lap and ran to your side,
pulling on your clothes. “Wanna see her! Get her down here!”

“Calm the fuck down, you menace.” Karl growled warningly. “You’re going to terrify her if you
yell like that.”

You bend down anyways, settling D/N down on the ground and helping her to sit. While Angie
excitedly started to play with her, you and Karl walked over to the couch and let yourselves drop
into it. With D/N distracted, you could finally take in all the scenery.

Since Alcina was, by far, the biggest person in your family and her house had to have space for four
people, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone that her house was the biggest of all. And she used that space
to put up the biggest Christmas tree you’ve ever seen, decorated with beautiful ornaments and
lights. The living room in of itself was beautifully and heavily decorated, a few candles burning, all
high up enough for D/N not to get to them. The radio on top of a dresser was playing some soft
tunes, bringing everyone into a nice and relaxed headspace.

“So, what’s for dinner?” Karl asked, stretching his arms over his head before settling one over the
backrest of the couch.

“The girls are cooking, so I do not know yet myself.” Alcina said, a proud smile on her red lips.

“N-No blood, right?” Moreau was hesitant to ask, avoiding meeting his sister's eyes as she glared at
him.
“What need do we have for blood anymore?! Of course, it’s without blood.”

“But we might have some flies in our food.” Karl mocked, clearly pleased with himself when
Alcina rolled her eyes.

“I regret inviting you already.”

“But it’s fun!” Donna grinned, and you noticed she wasn’t wearing a veil this evening. “Like those
movies I used to watch with Moreau.”

Instead, she had a clothed patch over her right eye and parts of her cheek, to still hide whatever she
had behind it, but comfortable enough to show you the rest of her head and beautiful hair. It was
nice to see her come out of her shell, little by little.

“Since when do your daughters know to cook anyway?” You asked, honestly interested.

“Oh, they like to watch a stupid man-thing cooking on the TV. A man by the name of Jamie Oliver,
apparently his recipes are the best around the world, or something like that.” Alcina explained
dismissively.

Karl straightened up, gasping offendedly. “What?! How dare you insult the best chef, Gordon
fucking Ramsey!”

Alcina looked a little bored at his words, her gaze wandering over to you. “My dear, what in
heavens name is he talking about?”

You chuckled and pulled Karl back a little. “Those two chefs have a little fight over the Nr. 1 spot
as best chef, and Karl enjoys watching Ramsey cook and try out his recipes.”

Donna grinned brightly. “You cook too, Karl?!”

“Oh Lord, I pity you for having to eat like that.” Alcina said in a mocking tone.

Karl huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’d all be glad to eat something as tasty as the
stuff I make.”

“You could invite us to dinner.” Moreau pointed out, his tone hopeful.

Karl gave him a smirk in response. “Sure, I’ll make a lovely fish recipe, always wanted to try that.”

Before anyone else could say more, Bela walked into the room, waving everyone over. “Come on
guys! Supper’s ready!”

As Angie jumped back over to Donna’s side, D/N looked around and once she spotted you, crawled
towards you. Picking her up, you and the others all start to walk to the dining room, equally
beautifully decorated.

Alcina directed everyone to their designated seats, even having a highchair put up for D/N, right
between Karl and you. Once you all have settled down, Daniela went around to ask for your choice
of a beverage, filling everyone’s glasses and clearly enjoying playing waitress.

It almost seemed like the other sisters had waited for the last drop of liquid to fill the last glass,
because as soon as it did, two swarms of flies swirled into the room and around the table, setting
plates with your meal down in such a rush, you had trouble following it.

D/N giggled when the swarm passed her. Once done with the task, Cassandra and Bela manifested
back into their humanoid appearance, settling into their seats next to their mother. Daniela joined
back soon after, you haven’t even noticed her leaving, bringing two bowls of different salads with
her and placing them down on in the middle of the table, taking her own seat afterwards.

“Now, I believe it is time for a toast.” Alcina lifted her glass. “To our family. To the life we now
have.”

Everyone lifted their glasses in union, and even Karl had a genuine smile on his lips before he took
a sip. Dinner was amazing, the girls did a surprisingly good job for their first real attempt at
cooking, even having prepared a dessert. D/N looked almost jealous as she watched you, while she
had to eat her baby food, but Karl did her the favour of picking a piece of cucumber out from his
salad. He wiped the dressing off and cut the middle part with the seeds away before handing it over
to D/N, who happily chewed on it, more playing than actually eating.

And afterwards, when you all settled down in the living room again, Karl showed D/N the
Christmas tree. The lights reflected in her wide-open eyes and she reached out to grab an ornament,
getting annoyed when Karl wouldn’t let her.

“Mother, can we give the presents now?” Cassandra asked, bouncing on her feet excitedly.

Her mother looked around the room, asking you all. “If it’s alright with everyone else too, then I
think you may.”

Karl settled down next to you again, with D/N in his lap, and after everyone nodded, the three
sisters went over to the tree and bend down to pick up their presents.

For their mother, they had a picture of them in a frame, decorated extravagantly. For Donna, they
had some cute ribbons and bows for her sewing needs. Moreau received a crown made from fake
flowers, to replace the one made from bones that he had created for himself back at the village, that
he obviously didn’t wear anymore. Karl and you received some more massage oil, a little joke as a
reminder of their first-ever present to you, making you both chuckle. To D/N they gifted a soft
horse plushie, a little hint to her Heisenberg heritage.

Alcina was next to go around the room and sharing her gifts. Her daughters each received a book, a
story that fit their interests and they all looked at them in amazement. You thought back at the
library at the castle, it always looked dusty and like it wasn’t used that much, but clearly you were
wrong if the three girls were into reading that much. Then, she surprised you all; Donna received a
bottle of white wine, Moreau a bottle of Whiskey and Karl and you both a bottle of beer, all with
her crest on it.

“I have recently started making wine again, and I thought to myself, why stop there? So, I
experimented a little and created more alcoholic beverages!” She explained proudly, pointing at
Karl’s. “And for yours I used a specifically German recipe I had found online. Do tell me if you
like it when you drink it.”

You were all a little stunned, not having expected the prime Lady to pick up her hobby again.
Alcina reached underneath the tree once more, approaching you again to hold up D/N’s gift to show
her; A thin golden necklace, adorned with pendants of the crests of the four houses and a cloud.
“And for you, my little bean, I gift you this. It shall forever remind you that you have us to protect
you from all harm this world tries to throw at you.”

Karl looked at the necklace with an unreadable expression, neither approving nor disapproving, but
let Alcina place the jewellery around her neck, even as you noticed he tensed up at the process. The
moment was a little tense but was luckily cut short as Angie ran to the tree next.

“Our turn!”

Alcina returned to her seat, making Karl take a deep breath to calm whatever feelings he just dealt
with.

Donna gifted everyone some new attire, that she had made herself of course. The three sisters each
received a new dress in the colour of the pendants they used to wear. Lady Dimitrescu too, received
a new dress, a dark red one that suited her immensely. Moreau got some new T-shirts, all
specifically designed to both be comfortable and hide the worst of his deformities, all with designs
that represented either the ocean or one of his favourite movies. You got a shirt as well, resembling
some of the designs Donna created for you when you came to the village. D/N received a cute little
dress, that she’ll sadly grow out of soon by the rate she was growing. Karl got a hat, one that
resembled the one he used to wear, just a way newer look to it.

“Y/N showed me that picture of your parents on their wedding day, thought you’d like to have your
hat back.” She said nervously, not sure if she had overstepped on accident.

Once again, Karl didn’t know what to say, but gave her a wavering smile before putting the hat on
his head. He turned towards you as Donna went back to sit down and finally you could see what
was going on; He was struggling to contain his feelings, the warm and fond ones that he didn’t like
to show to others. You leaned in for a kiss, trying to calm him down, and it seemed like it worked
as he sighed a quiet “thank you” to you afterwards.

“N-Now me! I think you’re all going to like it!” Moreau said excitedly, walking over to the tree and
pulling out three big canvases.

House Dimitrescu got a painting of their family, Donna a painting of her and Angie and your family
a painting of you three. You all gasped in union, the lines sometimes a little wonky, but he had done
a remarkably good job for having his Cadou-caused limitations.

“Uncle Moreau, you can paint?” Bela asked in awe and fascination. “It looks so good.”

“Yeah Moreau, those look amazing!” You praised him in agreement, making him flush a little.

“Oh, it u-used to be my hobby before M-Miranda took me. I started doing it again when I watched
this painter on the telly, Bob Ross. He’s so calm when he talks, made me less anxious.” He
explained, managing a proud smile that was well deserved.

“Damn, you even got my handsomeness right.” Karl said teasingly, genuinely surprised that his
brother could archive such a task.

Then it was your turn, and you gifted each house a bag of cookies that you’ve baked, representing
parts of their crests, as it was hard to get the actual details right with the dough. Karl got some new
tools from you, that Chris helped you pick out.
And then, to your surprise, Karl put D/N into your lap and got up and went to the tree. A bag that
you hadn’t noticed there lifted into the air and Karl opened it. Metal figurines floated out of the bag
and into the hands of the others, who were all equally shocked. None of you had actually expected
Karl to have gifts, aside from one for you and D/N, so the others were a surprise.

Bela, Cassandra and Daniela each got a fly, their eyes in the colour of their pendants. Alcina got a
bat with red eyes, Donna a spider with dark-bluish eyes, representing her own. Moreau received a
fish with green-yellowish eyes. Yours was entirely different, being a pair of earrings with a stone in
your favourite colour.

“Before any of you say anything.” Karl growled, his face pulled into a sneer. “I don’t want a thank
you, I don’t want some ‘aww Karl’, or any of that shit. I just didn’t want my wife getting mad at
me for being rude.”

You frowned a little, but hid it right after, knowing Karl needed you as an escape to hide the truth.
You knew that, even with his powers, making this many figurines takes him months, meaning he
had started making them way before Christmas time rolled around. He didn’t want to admit that he
liked having the others in your lives after all.

As he walked over, his hand went inside the pocket of his trousers and even before he pulled it out,
you knew what it was. He crouched down in front of you, bringing himself to D/N’s level, and
presented her with the little dog figurine.

D/N reached for it instantly and looked at it curiously, smiling at it slightly.

Karl sighed, clearing his throat to make sure his voice wouldn’t crack. “Your Grandpa made me
that, and I hope you can have more fun time playing with it than I…”

The room went quiet, everyone not knowing what to say at both the presents and the bittersweet
moment between Karl and his daughter. Karl hesitantly looked up at you, his eyes glossed over, and
you knew he was close to tears. But he was just as shocked about it, having believed this moment
wouldn’t make him as emotional as it now proofed to be.

He coughed awkwardly and pushed himself up to his feet. “Excuse me real quick.”

He more or less sprinted towards the nearest exit to the room, not wanting to show any tears to the
others, but stopping dead in his tracks when one sound pushed itself through the quietness.

“Da-Da!”

A united gasp came from all in the room, your eyes looking at your daughter as she wiggled in your
grasp, holding her arms out towards Karl.

And she repeated herself, louder this time, almost annoyed. “Da-Da!”

You worriedly watched as his shoulders tensed even more, his hands clenching into fists.

“Is she calling for me?” He asked with a shaking voice, clearly on the verge of tears.

“I-I think she is, honey.” You answered him, not knowing what to do as the others in the room
watched in silence.
“Y/N, could you bring her to me? I can’t turn around right now.” Karl sniffed and shook his head a
little, trying to get his body to behave.

“Karl, w-we don’t mind if you cry.” Moreau said the words in kind, but Karl couldn’t accept that,
not from his siblings.

“I. Am not. Crying.” He said firmly. “Now bring me, my daughter.”

Deciding that doing what he asked of you was better than forcing him to face his family like this,
you got up and went to his side, D/N once again calling out to him. He kept his gaze straight ahead
as you gave her over into his arms, tears streaming down his face and once she was with him, he
continued walking out of the room.

You stood left behind, awkward and worried, reluctantly going back to take your seat.

You looked at the floor. “I-I’m sorry about this, he needs a moment.”

“Daughters, please go to your rooms for a while. I don’t think you should be a part of this
conversation.” Alcina said, voice strict but not mean, and her daughters did what she wanted.

Once they were out of earshot, Donna spoke up.

“I thought we were closer than this…I thought he trusted us.”

Gathering your courage, you looked up at her. “It’s complicated. H-He doesn’t hate you, but he
doesn’t want to be seen as vulnerable.”

“This is ridiculous.” Alcina hissed, making you wince at her tone. “D/N just said her first word, this
should be a beautiful moment, and yet our brother is feeling miserable.”

“It’s not that simple, Alcina.” You snapped at her. “I’ve never seen you cry, and why is that?
Because we all hate to feel weak, none of us wants to show that side of us freely.”

And to your surprise, Alcina backed down, nodding in understanding.

“…I guess that is true.”

“What if we all cry? Would that make it better?” Moreau asked hopefully, receiving a glare in
response.

“No, Karl just needs a moment. I’ll go talk to him, and when we come back, just pretend like
nothing happened.” With that, you got up again and went after your husband, finding him in the
kitchen.

D/N was sitting on the counter with him in front of her, using his powers to move the dog figurine
around in the air between them, making her laugh. He wasn’t laughing, silently letting the tears roll
down his cheeks and drop to the floor, D/N not really noticing the heavy sadness.

You touched him between his shoulder blades, softly to not startle him too much. “It’s alright, Karl.
We’re here for you.”

He pulled his lips into a thin line, closing his eyes and giving you a nod. “I-I know. It just hurts so
fucking much, I wish my parents could be here with us. I want my father to know his
granddaughter loves the toy he made for me...”

Finally, a sob pushed through his resistance, the toy dropping as he forgot to use his powers and
you caught it, having anticipated this. You hugged his side, trying to stay calm and not cry yourself.

“I know you do, Karl.”

“Da-Da?” D/N’s little hands reached for his face, touching his wet cheeks and he jerked away a
little.

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. “S-Sorry, Mäusschen. Daddy’s alright and very proud
of you for saying your first word.”

D/N slid closer to him until he was forced to pick her up so she wouldn’t fall down, bringing her
closer to his chest. Once there, she made herself comfortable, tired eyes slowly closing and you
gave her the metal dog back into her hands, making her fall asleep while holding it.

“Do you want to go home?” You asked in a whisper.

Karl sighed heavily. “I don’t know…I’m sorry for ruining our first Christmas, I know this meant a
lot to you.”

You grabbed his face and made him look at you. “No, don’t you dare feel guilty about this. You
didn’t ruin anything, you hear me?”

You grabbed a nearby towel, gently starting to wipe his tears away. “If you want to go home, we go
home. If you want to stay, we stay. Your needs are just as important as mine.”

“I-I can’t go back in there.” He finally admitted. “I fucking hate that I broke down in front of the
others, I can’t just sit back down like nothing happened.”

“Then we’re going back in, say our goodbyes and leave. They’ll understand, Karl.” You assured
him, kissing him softly to further soothe him.

“You’re really not mad at me about this?” He asked again, still reluctant.

“I love you, and I want you to be happy.” You answered simply, taking his free hand in yours and
starting to guide him back towards the living room.

You pushed the door open, Karl having tilted his head down so his face was partially hidden under
the brim of his new hat.

“I’m sorry, guys, this evening was really great but we-“

You stopped dead in your tracks, the other three Lords having taken a stand in your path, having
waited for your return. And all three of them were crying.

Worried about your reaction, Karl slowly looked up to see what was going on, his mouth dropping
open a little at the picture before you.

“Karl, you are our brother, and we wanted to show you, that tears do not make you weak.” Alcina
said, looking straight into his very soul, at least it felt like it.
 “You don’t have to cry in front of us.” Moreau sniffled. “But just know that we trust you enough to
be vulnerable around you.”

And last, Donna spoke. “W-We really do see you as family, all of you. And if you’re hurt, then we
are too.”

“…I don’t want your fucking pity.” He said tremblingly, his hold over D/N tightening.

“It’s not pity, Karl.” Alcina sniffled, reaching up to wipe her tears. “This is solicitous. This is
worry. This is love.”

“The love of a family.” Moreau quietly added, as if Alcina could’ve meant any other kind of love.

“This is what humans say Christmas is all about, right? To be close to your loved ones, to share
your feelings, to feel safe in the community.” Donna smiled through her tears.

You looked up at Karl, confirming what you already suspected; New tears forming in his eyes. He
was panting slightly, trying to smile to the best of his abilities.

“I hate all of you.”

Alcina rolled her eyes but laughed. “We hate you too, you stupid man-thing.”

And she did the unthinkable, coming closer and bending down to hug you three. Karl went stiff, as
he always did in these new situations, but you put your arms around him as well, comforting him.
Donna and Moreau joined in as well, slowly and a little cautious still. And then you heard some
giggling from above, swarms of flies swirling down and manifesting into the girls, who joined the
hug.

“Didn’t I tell you three to go to your rooms?” Alcina growled, but with no menace behind it.

“Sorry mother.” The three said in unison, enticing a little laugh from you all.

You looked back up at Karl, giving him a bright smile. And finally, hesitantly, he accepted the hug
and relaxed into all the arms around him, keeping his daughter close to his heart.

Chapter End Notes

Once again, I thank you all for your patience ❤ There will either be one or two more chapters
of this story, but I have two more fics coming up, so stay tuned if you want to read more from
me.
 A Life Of Peace (Part 1)
Chapter Notes

Hello everyone! Sorry for making you all wait for almost two weeks, things have been a bit
much at work lately!

I decided to split the final chapter up into two parts, as it was getting longer and longer, I
should have the next part finished by tomorrow 😊

I've also been texting with an artist that would draw some illustrations for the story, that I
would post once finished! So stay excited! ❤

Three months later

Karl placed D/N next to the couch, making sure she was holding onto the edge and was more or
less stable on her feet before he came back to sit down next to you on the floor, about one meter
away from her.

You held your arms out for her. “Alright baby, come here.”

D/N whined and bend her knees, wanting to crawl, but Karl tutted at her.

“Oh no, Mäusschen, use those baby legs.”

She cried out in outrage, straightening her legs again but not moving.

Karl opened his arms as well, smiling encouragingly. “Come on now, walking is not so bad! We do
it all the time, lots of fun.”

She whined again, lifting her left leg and putting it down just a few centimetres further from where
it was before, archiving the get her legs further apart. She’s holding onto the edge with an iron grip.

“Now the other leg, you can do it.” You cheered her on, clapping your hands to grab her attention.

D/N tried to move her right leg, but faltered, getting scared and dropping back to the floor. She
went down on all fours and hurriedly crawled over to you, starting to cry and you pulled her into
your lap.

“Ma-Ma!”

“Oh honey, it’s okay, you’ll get the hang of it.” You cradled her, Karl petting her head.

“No pressure, kid.”

She calmed down, pressing close to your chest, as if to make sure you wouldn’t put her on her feet
again.
You looked at Karl. “You know, I still think it would be easier for her if we let Angie help her.”

He rolled his eyes, dramatically shaking his whole body. “My daughter will not learn to walk with
that creepy ass doll.”

“She likes Angie.” You reminded him. “And she’s closer to her size than we are. I really think she’d
feel a bit safer.”

“Safer? That thing is a flimsy mess of metal and porcelain, as if she could hold her up.” Karl
huffed, refusing to let that happen.

“You mean to tell me the supernatural, Cadou infected doll isn’t strong enough to hold a baby?
D/N can take a few steps if she has a good hold on something. And Angie makes her laugh, she’ll
be a bit more relaxed.” You pleaded with him, pursing your lips to make him weak.

And as per usual, it worked, his firm demeanour slowly slipping into reluctant compliance. “Fucks
sake, fine. I’ll let that creepy, ugly, absolutely fucking annoying-!”

D/N released one loud scream, enough to shut her father up, who was talking shit about one of her
friends. It caused you to laugh, Karl rolling his eyes with a defeated sigh.

And so it happened that the very next day, you three were on your way to house Beneviento,
knocking on the door and patiently waiting for it to be opened.

It was Donna who opened it, which was a change to how it usually went back at the village, where
Angie was the one to be the first interaction with a guest, mostly even the only interaction. Donna
welcomed you inside graciously, the round table in her living room being beautifully prepared for a
cup of shared tea.

Small steps came running, Angie sprinting to your side. “Give her to me! My student has much to
learn, we don’t have much time!”

Karl prepared to growl a warning at her, but D/N in his arms was wiggling with all her strength,
leaning down as much as she could to get closer to Angie. He crouched down and put D/N on her
feet, hesitantly letting her take Angie’s hands in hers, laughing excitedly at the doll.

Still, Karl gave Angie a warning. “If she gets hurt, I’ll fucking rip you apart.”

If Angie could roll her eyes, you knew she would right then. “Shut up, stupid! Go sit down and let
me work!”

You stepped in before Karl could make good on his threat, beckoning him to get up and take a seat
with Donna and you. Even when you sat down, Karl couldn’t take his eyes off of D/N and Angie,
who were taking small steps together, Angie walking backwards while D/N followed her.

Donna poked his arm and pointed his gaze to his cup of tea. “Calm down, Karl. I know Angie isn’t
exactly easy on others, but she’ll never hurt D/N.”

“Not to be mean or anything,” Karl said, taking a sip of his tea with a little grimace, as it wasn’t his
preferred kind of drink, “but your doll is pure nightmare fuel.”

“Karl.” You sighed with annoyance.

But Donna gave a smile. “Not a worry, Y/N. I know Angie isn’t exactly polite, and I do see how
she can come across as creepy. But she has her bright side too.”

“I get why you like her, but I think I’d have a constant headache if she was around me for so long.”
Karl shrugged, finally starting to relax a little and not look over his shoulder to his daughter every
few seconds.

“Did you know Angie can sing? Pretty good, might I add.” Donna grinned with a pride that made
you warm inside.

Not for the first time, you wondered if perhaps Angie wasn’t just Donna’s best friend, but perhaps
also a little bit like a daughter to her.

“I think if I say I don’t believe you, Angie will sing to me and that’s a hell no from me, so I believe
she has the singing voice of an angel.” Karl snickered, the joke making his worries fade a little
more and the conversation drifted off into other topics.

After a while, you almost forgot that D/N and Angie were busy walking around together. It
surprised you that you had enough trust in the doll to forget about their presence, but that peace and
quiet was shattered when a shrill scream rushed through the room. At first you thought it was D/N,
but once all your heads whipped over to the scene, it turned out the scream came from Angie.

D/N and her were sitting on the carpet, D/N holding Angie’s forearm in her hand with a shocked
expression while Angie flared the other half of her arm around. You assumed it was an accident
that caused all this and you didn’t need to see Donna’s face to know she was close to tears.

Before anyone else could react, Karl got up and hurried over to their side. He gently pulled the
doll's arm out from D/N’s grip, who looked at him with an almost guilty sadness.

“Mäusschen, you have to be careful, alright? Aunt Donna loves Angie very much, she’s special.”

The sentence slipped from him without a second thought and he used his powers to reattach the
metal wiring that acted as Angie’s joints, fixing her as if nothing had happened.

Once he was sure both Angie and D/N were okay again, he tensed up, as if just now realizing what
he had said and done. Donna and you exchanged a warm look, the care he had for Angie in
complete contrast to how much he claims he hates her.

Karl awkwardly turned back to face the two of you, a light blush creeping over his cheeks. “Don’t
you dare say anything to that.”

Throwing his warning straight out the window, Donna sprinted to him and put her arms around him
in a tight hug.

“You love us!”

“Like fucking hell I do!” He snarled, trying to pull away but Donna had a surprisingly strong grip
on him.

Not able to resist the opportunity, you grabbed Angie and then D/N, making sure you three could
also hug him into submission.

Angie even went as far as to kiss his cheek. “Aww, aren’t you cute!”
“H-How fucking dare you, psycho doll! What kind of fresh torture is this?!” Karl wailed
dramatically, the light blush turning into a deep crimson.

But there was nothing he could do to hide the obvious warm feelings he had for the other members
of his family, that he still claimed he only accepted in his life out of reluctance.

D/N’s first birthday

“Good morning, birthday girl!” You crooned down at D/N in her bed, who sleepily looked up at
you.

She rubbed her eyes with a yawn, whining quietly for you to lift her up. As you did, you looked at
her with awe and love, not for the first time today wondering how this amazing little gift had
already been with you for a whole year. The little girl couldn’t yet comprehend how special today
was, still tired and not as excited as her parents proofed to be.

You carried her downstairs, where Karl was already preparing breakfast. A big smile pulled on his
lips when you entered, and you let him take D/N from your arms.

“Happy birthday, mein Mäusschen!” He cheered, holding her high up over his head, making her
stare down at him with a giggle.

You smiled warmly and went over to the window, looking up at the sky and seeing some clouds
floating. Not even going to entertain the thought of rain on your daughters first birthday, you let
them disappear. It wasn’t often that you now made use of your ability, but it was days like these
that made you just a tiny bit glad to have them.

Karl sat D/N down on her highchair, presenting her with various flavours of baby food. “Now, what
shall it be for the birthday breakfast?”

D/N, as you had already expected, looked at you instead, whining for you to pick her back up. As
you did so, Karl laughed.

“Titty-Juice! Great choice, I agree.”

You playfully smacked the back of his head, getting comfortable on the chair next to him as D/N
already grabbed and pulled at your shirt like you’ve been starving her for days. A few seconds later,
she happily latched onto your nipple, one of her hands putting a bit of pressure on the top of your
breast as if trying to wring all the milk out at once. You groaned quietly and gently grabbed her
hand, holding it and letting her eat.

Karl watched with a proud smile. “A whole damn year, it’s crazy.”

“Time flies, huh?” You agreed with a dreamy smile of your own.

He scooted a little closer, leaning in to kiss you. “I love you. Thank you for giving me all this.”

“I love you too.” You sighed as the kiss broke apart, reminding him. “But D/N wasn’t just my
doing, I vividly remember you being involved.”

He barked a laugh. “Sure as hell hope you remember.”

After breakfast, it didn’t take long for your doorbell to ring, your family and friends slowly but
surely gathering to celebrate the day D/N entered your life fully. In the afternoon, when the warm
sun made sure the temperature was bearable enough, the party gathered outside.

The Dimitrescu sisters were playing with Rose and D/N, playful but still careful. The Winters were
still wary of the other Lords, which was understandable, and the feeling was mutual. But again,
they all put their differences aside in favour of being together with their mutual friends of house
Heisenberg.

“She’s getting more and more adorable.” Donna sighed as she watched the little ones play, shyly
looking at the Winters. “Both Rose and D/N, I mean.”

“Yeah…” Mia agreed with a wavering smile. “I think Rose really likes having some real playmates
around, Michael (their son) isn’t up for her shenanigans yet.”

“My daughters have also fallen in love with them, they have been begging me to make a fourth
daughter.” Alcina sighed heavily, the burden of the request not sitting well with her.

“Wait, do they mean with another Cadou experiment,” you asked curiously, “or
the traditional way?”

Alcina grimaced, the very thought repulsive. “Considering I’m pretty sure they do not know what
the traditional way is, I guess they mean with a Cadou.”

You nearly choked on your drink. “What?! You mean to tell me that you haven’t had the talk with
them yet? Aren’t they like 80 years old?”

“That surprises even me!” Angie laughed, loud enough for the men who have been standing to the
side to glance over at your table.

“I’m gonna tell Karl.” You snickered, receiving a warning glare from the tall woman.

“Don’t you dare! He’ll ruin their innocence!”

Considering the fact that Cassandra had understood your implication of Karl using his skilled
tongue for pleasure all the way back at the village, you guessed the three weren't as innocent as
their mother assumed them to be.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you’re talking about me.” Karl’s voice came from behind
you, and you felt his strong hands grabbing your shoulders.

You leaned your head back until you could lean it against his belly, looking up at his smirking face
with a grin of your own. “It’s nothing, don’t think about it.”

You gave him a wink that meant so much as “I’ll tell you later”, receiving a kiss in turn.

“I was going to ask if you’re up for some cake yet.” Karl asked the group, pointing at the
extraordinarily decorated cake the Dimitrescu’s had baked for D/N.

A united yes was said, the party gathering at the big table in the garden. Karl picked D/N up and
made her hold the big knife, using his powers to safely guide the blade to slice the cake into pieces,
acting like D/N was doing it all on her own.
Content happiness settled over everyone as you all ate the scrumptious cake. You were engaged in
the conversation between Karl, Ethan and yourself, noticing from the corner of your eye that the
Dimitrescu sisters were planning some kind of mischief.

It started innocently enough, with Cassandra playfully placing some icing on the tip of Rose’s nose
and Daniela copying her with D/N. You didn’t care about the mess, having already prepared to have
to bathe D/N at the end of the day and letting her have all the fun she wanted.

Only when Moreau and Angie got involved did you pay a bit more attention to them, noticing what
had started with little smears of icing was slowly but surely turning into a full-on food fight. You
were about to step in when Moreau grabbed a big piece of cake and aimed it at Bela, who sat next
to Karl, who wasn’t paying attention to their little fight.

The cake left Moreau's hand with a string of slime connecting it still for a few moments and Bela
was fast to turn into the swarm of flies that made up her body, effectively dodging Moreau’s
attempt to hit her. Instead, it hit Karl right at the side of his head, covering most of his ear and
sticking to his hair.

Everyone froze, D/N and Rose laughing at the mess they've created.

Karl turned his head slowly at his brother, who went as pale as a fish-like being could.

“…I’m suddenly in the mood for some sashimi.”

Moreau held up his hands and raised from his seat just as Karl did the same. “W-Wait! Wait! I-I
didn’t mean to!”

Desperately, he went to hide behind the oldest sister. “A-Alcina, tell him to stop!”

But he chose the wrong sibling for an ally.

“You beg me for help? You wanted to hit my daughter.” Alcina growled in warning, making him
stumble away to get some distance between the two siblings that had one out for him.

As Chris and Ethan started to snicker at the scene, you sighed and yelled after Karl.

“Karl, it was an accident!”

“Y-Yeah, an accident! We were playing a game!” Moreau whimpered, slowly losing the space he
needed to keep the distance from his brother.

Karl did him the favour of stopping, displaying his iconic manic grin. “A game, huh? I like games,
I’m sure you know.”

Moreau gulped, knowing exactly where this was going, and Karl didn’t disappoint.

“Let’s play some hide and seek! If you manage to hide from me, I’ll let you live another day…But
if I find you, I get to pop some of those fucking eyes on your back.”

Moreau knew there wasn’t a way to get out of this, so when Karl started to count down, he hurried
away to get into a good hiding spot. Karl laughed as he watched, the counting trailing off as
Moreau disappeared.
“Karl, you will not go after him, or so God help me.” You warned him.

“Relax, just wanted to scare him.” He laughed with a prideful smile. “Still got it.”

Angie handed him a paper towel when he sat back down, surprising everyone. As Karl cleaned
himself up, you couldn’t hide your slight amusement at what your daughters first birthday all
entailed.

Cake, presents and some sibling threatening, what else could you expect?

One and a half years later

D/N was now 2 and a half years old, her speech making more and more sense and walking like a
pro and today, Karl and you decided it was time to have a little talk with her.

You sat her down between you too, cageing her in protectively even if there was no reason for it in
your own home. But the talk was important and would mean a lot of changes coming to your life
yet again, and both Karl and you felt the need to be close to your daughter during it.

She looked between her parents with wide eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Karl chuckled and pinched her cheek gently. “Nothing’s wrong, Mäusschen. We want to ask you
something.”

“Wasn’t me!” D/N said instantly, a short answer she had learned rather fast the more time she spent
with her three cousins who would cause all sorts of trouble around her.

“It’s nothing bad, D/N, you didn’t do anything.” You reassured her with an amused smile.

Karl directed her attention back to him, making sure she’d understand the importance of the
question.

“Would you like a little brother or sister?”

Your daughter tilted her head with a confused expression. “A what?”

Karl hesitated a moment, thinking. “…You know how your aunts and uncle are my siblings? Like
that.”

“I get a Moreau?” Was D/N’s conclusion, not quite sure herself if that was the right answer.

You laughed, not unkindly and explained further. “Mommy and Daddy want another baby, D/N.”

That had gotten through to her toddler brain, but she wasn’t looking as excited as you had hoped
she would.

“Was I bad?”

“What? Why do you say that?” You asked worriedly.

Wetness formed in her tiny eyes as she sniffled. “Do I go away when the baby is here?”
Karl was quick to wipe the little droplets that rolled down her cheek away, lifting her up and into
his lap, close to his chest.

“No, Mäusschen, of course not. We will never give you away, you hear me?”

You scooted closer as well, gently running your hand down her back. “You know how much fun
Bela, Cassandra and Daniela are having? We want you to have that too.”

“…You still love me?” She asked quietly.

Both Karl and you leaned in to kiss her, Karl the top of her head and you her cheek.

“We love you more than anything, honey. Another baby won’t change that.” You assured her with a
calm smile.

“If anything, you get a new friend.” Karl encouraged her, hoping to make her more cheery about
the whole prospect.

Karl and you had been talking about having another child for some time now, as it was always your
plan to have more than one, but none of you had even entertained the idea that D/N could have an
issue with that. What if she said she didn’t want that, would you just ignore her wishes and make
another baby anyway, or would you wait and try again when she’s a little older?

But to your relief, D/N gave a little smile in the end, nodding. “Okay.”

Two months later

“Listen here you fucking freak, you’re lucky my wife likes you so much, otherwise I wouldn’t give
you my daughter just like that.” Karl growled at his brother, towering over him.

But Moreau looked unimpressed. “You done? D/N and I have many movies to sort through to
decide what to watch and as far as I know, you are busy too.”

You watched the interaction with a proud smile, happy that Moreau after all this time finally had
built up enough confidence to push back against his siblings.

Karl flashed him his teeth, trying to play it off as a particularly toothy smile for D/N. “You bold
motherfucker.”

“Yeah, I’m just gonna cut this off now.” You sighed, pulling Karl back and handing D/N over to
Moreau. “She just ate, so she should be okay for a while. You want to text me when you want me to
come get her again?”

Karl stayed quiet, letting you finalize the details of this afternoon before you two said your
goodbyes to Moreau and D/N. You were glad that D/N saw and interacted with the rest of the
family so much that she wasn’t bothered to stay away for a few hours without her parents around. It
made today's activities so much easier.

“You know, the ‘I love everyone’ attitude she definitely has from you.” Karl pouted during the
short walk back over to your home.

You rolled your eyes. “Oh, shut up. Moreau asked if he could spend some time with her and it
works out for us, doesn’t it?”
He opened the door, looking at you with a raised eyebrow. “Not sure if I can get the job done while
knowing the slime ball has my daughter.”

As the door closed, you daringly pushed him against it with a smirk. “Getting the job done? Aren’t
you romantic.”

Karl’s hands went to your waist, grinning. “Oh? It’s romance you want? And here I thought we
would get filthy.”

You shut him up with your lips against his, one of your hands fisting into his hair, making him
groan quietly. Sex was a rather rare occasion for you two nowadays, considering you had been
fucking around the house like animals in heat since the one year anniversary of killing Mother
Miranda. But since D/N was more mobile now and you already had many close calls of her almost
catching you during the act, the fire died down a little. It also made your plans to expand your
family a little harder, so when Moreau asked to babysit D/N for a while, it was very welcomed.

Now, when it was only Karl and you, you couldn’t wait to feel him again. Your lips parted with a
wet smack and you let your mouth trail a path over his Adam’s apple and neck to the juncture of his
shoulder to place a gentle bite there. It earned you a low grunt and you met his eyes with a pleased
smile.

“Shut up.” Karl sneered, kneading the flesh of your ass with his hands.

“Didn’t say anything.” You teased, yelping when he scooped you up so you had to throw your legs
around him to not fall.

He wasted no time in carrying you up the stairs, nipping at your earlobe all the while as you rucked
your hips against his body in small movements. He all but threw you onto your bed, causing you to
laugh before his mouth on yours quieted you down. While the heat inside of you didn’t calm down,
you two did, the playful roughness from before replaced with a gentle exploring of bodies.

“I love you, Y/N.” Karl sighed, almost dreamily, nuzzling the tip of his nose against yours. “I’m so
happy that we’re making another kid.”

“Your breeding kink acting up again?” You teased him, earning you a bite to your bottom lip.

“Trust me, if I wanted to breed you, I’d tie you down and fuck you for days, making sure you’re
dripping with my cum.” He growled seductively, not really making a point against having a
breeding kink.

“Promises, promises.” You snickered, tugging at his shirt until he let you pull it off.

He did the same to you, your bra joining the growing pile on the floor soon after.

Karl sat up to really take you in, his voice sincere when he spoke again. “We’ve been together for a
good decade now, yet I can’t seem to get sick of the sight of your body.”

It made you blush, a shy smile on your lips. “Likewise, my love.”

He leaned back in to reunite your lips, idle fingers dancing across your skin to travel to your pants
and opening them. You let your nails trail a soft path over his back, relishing in the delighted shiver
and sigh you get rewarded with. Even after all these years, your bodies were just as responsive to
each other’s touch as ever. Some things just never seem to change.

He pushed your pants down enough for you to kick them off, the dance of tongue and lips parting
once again.

Karl looked at you with a glint of mischief in his eyes. “Wanna see a magic trick?”

You didn’t get a chance to respond or even think of what his words might entail, when you felt
something small, cold and round move from your navel to the waistline of your underwear. It
pushed inside without hesitation, meeting your clit and starting to vibrate.

As you threw your head back in a startled moan, Karl held up his hands with a chuckle. “No
hands!”

There was a part of you that wanted to wipe the smugness from his face, but as the pleasurable hum
against your sensitive bud didn’t let up, that part of you was quieted down entirely. Karl watched
you writhe underneath him, trailing his lips carefully over the skin of your neck. He knew you were
comfortable with the feeling of his lips against your neck now but was still gentle and hesitant
while doing so. Aside from losing his family, the one thing Karl feared most was hurting you again.

When he caressed your breasts and started to suck on your nipple, you tensed up a little. Since
being a mother, your nipples weren’t quite as receptive to sex as they used to be, but that didn’t
mean Karl would neglect them. D/N isn’t breastfed anymore, but that was quite a recent change and
there was still milk present in your breasts, and as Karl massaged them, some of it spilled.

The first time this happened, you were self-conscious about it, feeling weird that Karl had gotten a
taste of it and thinking he’d find it gross. But there wasn’t much that could gross a man out who
spent decades being elbow deep in corpses.

He wasn’t actively seeking out to nurse, but whenever the milk spilled from your breasts, he didn’t
hesitate to lick it up and praising the sweetness of your taste. It just made you love him even more.

The insistent vibrations against your clit are driving you mad, bringing you right to the edge but
never letting you tip over. You whined and spread your legs wider, letting Karl’s hips fall between
them and getting just a hint of the same treatment against his length as he felt the vibration.
Through the three layers of fabric between you two, it wasn’t enough to stimulate him, but your
noises did.

With a moan of his own, he let up from your body and got up from the bed, working his remaining
attire down while watching you getting lost in pleasure. In a sudden flash, the stimulations left you
and you sacked against the mattress to catch your breath. Karl’s little toy left your underwear and
floated to him, finally letting you see the little metal ball that had been playing with you.

Karl let his tongue dart out, the ball settling on it and sliding down to the tip, coating it with your
gathered slickness. He groaned his approval at another taste of you while slowly stroking his dick
into full hardness, heated gaze never leaving yours.

“Fuck me.” You whimpered, shakily reaching down and pulling your underwear off.

“In due time.” Karl purred lowly, coming closer once again and grabbing a pillow. “First you
should get a taste of me, though.”
He settled the pillow behind your head, elevating it at the perfect angle for what he planned next.
He settled over your body on his knees, placed on either side of you by your shoulders, bringing his
cock right up to your face. The anticipation was burning as high as the blush on your cheeks as you
opened your mouth for him.

Karl let his thumb swipe over your bottom lip, locking eyes with you. “Slap my thigh if I get too
rough, alright?”

“Understood.” You assured him, your tongue trembling as the head of his dick came to rest on it.

You had already forgotten about the metal ball, but it returned to its former spot against your clit
now. You tensed up and waited for the torturous pleasure to start again, Karl teasing you by letting
it rub against your bud without much pressure. But then, just as the vibrations started again, much
more intensely than before, he shoved his cock down your throat in a rough thrust.

Your body arched, or wanted to, but was pinned down by his above you, leaving you no choice but
to submit to him completely. Time faded into nothingness as your senses boiled down to the feeling
of the metal ball sending shockwaves of pleasure up your spine, and his hips snapping forward to
fuck your face.

Tears formed at the corners of your eyes at the roughness of the treatment, your fingers digging into
his buttckeeks to ground yourself. It felt absolutely amazing.

“Come on, buttercup. Come for me, show me how much you want it.” He growled, hips faltering
just a little.

You moaned loudly around his cock, frantically moving your face up to meet the thrusts of his hips
as your own desperately rolled against the metal ball, begging for release. It came to you with a
flash, electricity dancing over your nerves as the pleasure mounted and left you quivering in
submission to it. Karl had meant to pull out, not wanting to come just yet so he could keep going
right away, but seeing your eyes roll back and your sucking efforts doubling, he couldn’t hold back
and came down your throat with a loud moan of your name.

The two of you were heaving when he pulled his spent cock from your mouth, letting himself fall
to your side, making you bounce on the mattress. The metal ball left your body, Karl letting it fall
to the floor with little more than an afterthought.

Karl huffed a laugh. “I said it before and I'll say it again, you’ll be the death of me.”

“Me? You’re one to talk.” You chuckled, voice cracking a little.

Worry covered his features. “You okay? Was it too much?”

You shook your head, clearing your throat. “Didn’t slap your thigh, did I?”

Karl acknowledged that fact with a hum, kissing your forehead before getting up from bed. He
went over to the dresser, where he had a water bottle and brought it over to you, beckoning you to
rehydrate.

As you drank, he asked you: “Still up for more?”

“I’m pretty sure coming in my mouth won’t get me pregnant, Karl.” You joked, laughing when he
pinched your thigh in retaliation.

He grabbed the bottle and took a swig for himself. “Alright then, give me five more minutes and
then you’re done for.”

And he didn’t disappoint, his cock back in its hard state a few minutes later and he sat at the edge
of the bed, feet planted firmly on the floor.

He tapped his lap. “Take a seat then, my dear wife.”

“Such a gentleman.” You sighed, straddling his hips and lining yourself up with his cock.

Karl bit his bottom lip as you slowly sunk down his length, his hands kneading at your hips. What
followed was an hour filled with pleasure, moans and dirty words whispered in between the hot air
you two shared. And it ended the way you had come to know and love: With Karl’s cum coating
your inner walls and him making stupid jokes to make you laugh.
 A Life Of Peace (Part 2)
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Four months later

It had taken longer this time, making you anxious that something was wrong, filling the weeks with
worries and more crying than you had done in a long time.

But, to your great relief, you got pregnant in the end all the same. You didn’t believe it at first when
the test finally said you were pregnant, but as you did another one just to make sure, it laid your
fears to rest.

And the best thing about it was that this time, you had a chance to surprise Karl with it. D/N held
the test tightly in her tiny fist, excitedly bouncing on her feet. She had come around to the idea of a
sibling, the Dimitrescu sisters being a big help in that, and now she couldn’t wait to make her father
happy with the news.

“Alright baby, go on.” You whispered to her, equally excited, as you two went to the kitchen where
Karl was currently occupied with doing the dishes.

D/N ran up to her father and hugged his left leg. “Daddy! I found something!”

Karl was startled at the sudden attack, looking down at D/N with a smile. “Oh yeah? What is it?”

D/N held out the test to him, jumping happily which made it a little hard for Karl to immediately
recognize what she was holding. You stepped closer and laid a hand over your belly as he took the
test from her hand and brought it closer for inspection.

A startled gasp followed once he realized what this was, a bright smile on his lips when he met
your eyes. “You’re pregnant?”

“Yeah.” You nodded teary-eyed. “Still early, but yeah. We’re getting another kid.”

Karl too, had teary eyes, and he sniffled as he bend down to pick D/N up. “Come here, both of
you.”

He opened his arms to you and you hugged his side, his free arm coming around your body so his
hand could rest against the side of your belly. D/N threw her little arms around his neck and he
kissed her cheek.

“I love you all so fucking much.”

“Fucking love you too.” D/N giggled and patted his cheek before leaning in to kiss your head.

“God, I fucking love you.” You agreed with a laugh, tilting your head up to kiss your husband.

It was time to celebrate the news.

Five months later

Your second pregnancy made you regret not having appreciated how tame your first one was.
When you were pregnant with D/N, your first trimester was easy compared to what happened this
time.

You had spent each and every morning bend over the rim of your toilette, throwing up what little
food you had managed to eat the day before, your appetite nearly gone altogether. You were moody
and emotional, sometimes for no reason and it was often led on by the fact that Karl had to take
over more in carrying for D/N because you couldn’t find the energy anymore.

Now in your second trimester, the nausea had finally let up, making you not hate the thought of
waking up the next morning each night. Your belly steadily grew, the new life inside of you moving
and finally also able to be felt from the outside.

D/N was fascinated with the whole concept, oftentimes spending hours trying to get her sibling to
react to her presence by pushing at your belly, much to your dismay. But seeing her face light up
whenever the baby kicked and she felt it against the palm of her hands made it worth it.

A big difference to the pregnancy with D/N was also the fact about the showing of powers. While
D/N’s magnetic powers were the main reason Karl and you figured you could be pregnant the first
time, this child didn’t show anything at all. You wondered if it would stay that way or if it would
eventually show as well, and also what powers they’d get.

You didn’t outright say it, but you hoped this child would get your cloud powers to match the
magnetic ones the rest of the family possessed.

Currently, you were sleeping. You needed more rest than ever, still feeling exhaustion nagging at
your body at every wake. Sometimes you felt like the strain of the first trimester was still weighing
on you, even now.

A loud yell startled you from your sleep and you groaned annoyedly at being woken up. D/N’s
hurried footsteps grew closer and she opened the door to your bedroom.

“Mommy! Come play with Daddy and me!”

She climbed into the bed, bouncing on it and shaking you to get you to wake up.

“D/N, please calm down.” You groaned, refusing to move as your muscles twitched tiredly.
“Mommy wants to sleep.”

“But you sleep so much.” D/N pointed out. “You don’t play anymore.”

It was true, as much as you hated to admit it. “M-Maybe another time, the baby is making Mommy
tired.”

“But I want to play with you!” D/N demanded still, not understanding why you needed to rest so
much.

She grabbed your arm and pulled on it, and something in you snapped then, just as Karl walked in.

“D/N, leave me alone!”

She let your arm go in a startled whimper and you sat up to look at her just as shocked. You had
never yelled at her like this before, so harshly, and you couldn’t believe your own words.
D/N sobbed and you remained frozen, unable to even reach out to apologize just yet.

Karl gently touched her back. “D/N, come on, let Mommy rest.”

D/N looked up at him with a hurt look, climbing off the bed and hurrying out of the room.

“D/N wait!” You finally called out to her, but it was too late.

You sobbed and cried out, hating yourself for treating D/N so unfairly. Karl gathered you in his
arms, an act you didn’t feel like you deserved.

“I-I didn’t mean to.” You sobbed, desperate for him to believe you.

“Shh, Y/N, I know you didn’t.” He whispered, placing a kiss on your forehead. “You’re exhausted,
shit like this happens.”

“But not to us.” You whimpered. “I’m such a bad Mom.”

Karl instantly made you look up at his face. “Shut up, don’t say that. You made a mistake, that
doesn’t make you a horrible person. It’ll be alright.”

You didn’t believe him and you knew he could tell. He wiped the tears away from your cheeks with
his thumbs.

“Here’s what we’re gonna do: I’ll go talk to D/N and you calm down and wait for us here.”

His tone didn’t leave room for arguments and he placed a quick kiss on your lips before getting up
and going after D/N. But as soon as he was gone, you slowly got up from bed as well, going after
him because you needed to apologize to D/N right away.

You heard Karl’s voice in her room, the door only slightly ajar. “Hey Mäusschen, it’s okay.”

You peaked in through the little gab, seeing Karl sit down in the plush chair to the side with D/N in
his lap.

He wiped her tears away. “Come on, we raise you to be mouthy. Talk to me.”

D/N sniffled and crossed her arms over her chest, her sadness still there but was combined with
anger. “Mommy doesn’t love me anymore.”

Her words stung so bad you had to grab your chest to soothe the pain.

Karl frowned concernedly. “What? Why the fuck would you think that?”

“She’s not playing with me! She’s in bed and sleeping so much… You only talk of the other baby.”

The last sentence was directed at you both and Karl too felt a sting of hurt.

“You really think so?”

She nodded, avoiding meeting his eyes as if she wasn’t supposed to talk her mind. “Do you love the
baby more than me?”
“Of course not.” He answered immediately. “We love you both just the same. Good parents don’t
pick favourites.”

D/N hesitantly met his eyes. “Then why is Mommy away so much?”

A new round of tears rolled down your cheeks. You never meant to neglect D/N, you just couldn’t
keep up with her as much anymore with the pregnancy.

Karl sighed and took a moment to think about how to best answer her.

“Look Mäusschen, Mommy has a baby in her belly, right? And that baby needs to grow and get
strong, and that takes a lot of time from her, you understand?”

D/N nodded slowly, trying to keep up.

“You are already a big girl, D/N. That doesn’t mean we don’t love you as much. When the baby is
here and they grow bigger like you are, then things will be different again. Mommy has to use a lot
of energy for the baby right now, that’s why she is so tired.”

D/N pouted a little. “Aunt Alci said she made her babies in six days.”

Karl grimaced in irritation. “That’s not the right way to make children.”

“Then what is?” She asked curiously.

He sighed and shook his head. “I’ll tell you about fucking when you’re older.”

Even through your tears, you managed a light chuckle at that.

“Now Listen,” he said as he swiped a strain of her hair behind her ear, “Mommy needs us to help
her along the way. She needs us more than ever, will you help her?”

And to your relief, D/N nodded with a little smile. “Okay.”

You took that moment to make your presence known, knocking on her door before pushing it open.
Karl and D/N looked up to you, your daughter a little hesitant to meet your eyes as you approached
them.

You crouched down to be on D/N’s level, your belly not making it easy for you. “Hey baby.”

D/N looked worried, like you would yell at her again. “Hey Mommy.”

Slowly, you reached out and caressed her cheek. “I’m so sorry for yelling at you, D/N. You didn’t
deserve that.”

“It’s okay.” She said but you shook your head.

“It’s not. I love you very much, you hear me? And the new baby doesn’t change that.”

D/N sniffled and turned her body so she could hug you around your neck. You gently pulled her
closer, careful about your belly as you hugged her close to your form, kissing the side of her head.
Karl watched on, letting you two have this sweet moment all to yourselves, but deep down vowing
to himself to make sure D/N never felt like this again.
Three months later

You live and you learn.

You had learnt from what happened and had now integrated D/N as much into this pregnancy as
Karl was, which you realized you should’ve done from the beginning.

Now, not only did you focus your attention on spending alone time with D/N, but she would also
help with your aches whenever she felt up for it. So it happened that when D/N woke up from a nap
one day and saw Karl massaging your swollen ankle, she decided to help out as well and mimic her
father's actions on your other foot.

She was getting more and more excited to meet her sibling, bringing you drawings of your little
family on an almost daily basis along with her toys that she’d present to your belly like the child
inside could see them too. It was an adorable sight.

And so today, when Karl announced it was time to make another mould of your belly to join the
metallic one from your first pregnancy, D/N was more than excited to help.

This time around, you had managed to beg Karl into using regular clay instead, which also meant it
was safe for D/N to get involved. You leaned back against the wall behind you, shifting your hips
into the pillow below to get more comfortable as your two loved ones worked together in covering
your belly with clay.

D/N smacked another patch on, spreading it. “How much longer until the baby comes, Mommy?”

“About another four or five weeks.” You sighed, feeling Karl purposefully smearing some clay on
your underwear just to get a rise from you.

“And you know what that means, Mäusschen. You as the big sister has to look after them.” He
grinned, smirking at you when you playfully kicked at him for ruining your underwear.

D/N smiled with pride. “I know! I will smack anyone that wants to touch them.”

“Use your big ass aunt as target practice.” Karl suggested, turning into a startled yelp.

Why was he startled? Because he got drenched in cold water from a small cloud just above his
head. It wasn’t big enough to hit either you or D/N, like it was aiming for him specifically, and the
water went down his back and onto the floor.

Your mouth dropped open in surprise as well, forcing the cloud to disappear. You didn’t do that.

“The fuck was that for? Don’t tell me you start to defend Alcina now.” Karl growled, some real
annoyance in his voice that died down when he saw your excited smile. “What?”

“Karl, that wasn’t me.”

“Wasn’t you? Then who…” He trailed off, realization coming to him. “Oh! The kid’s a weather
frog like you!”

You smacked his arm, laughing. “You dumbass, don’t call us that!”
“Daddy, did the baby make it rain?” D/N asked with a tilt to her head, indicating she wasn’t sure
she got that right.

“Seems like it, Mäusschen. Now we have to two magnetic and two cloud making family members.”
Karl said excitedly, shivering at the dripping of water down his back. “D/N, could you grab a towel
for me?”

“On it!” She got up and did a little salute, a move she had copied from Chris, and ran off to retrieve
the towel.

Karl used that moment of being alone with you to kiss you, caressing your belly through the clay.
“Fuck, you have no idea how happy you make me.”

You leaned your forehead against his with a soft sigh. “As happy as you make me, Karl.”

One month later

Once again, you have travelled to the Umbrella base in your country to deliver your baby, but this
time with D/N and Chris at your side as well.

“I wanna watch!” D/N whined as Karl gave her over to Chris.

“Trust me, you don’t. Lots of blood and gooey stuff, not pretty.” Chris explained to her, receiving a
grimace from D/N.

“Don’t gross out my kid.” Karl rolled his eyes at the other man.

Chris looked back at D/N with a shrug. “Alright, it's all glitter and unicorns then.”

“Unicorns aren’t real.” D/N pointed out.

Chris grinned at her. “You sure? I think I may have seen one outside a while ago. Wanna go look
for it?”

You rubbed over your belly with a content smile as D/N squeaked with joy at the prospect of
finding a unicorn.

You stepped up to them and kissed D/N’s cheek. “Now you go have fun with Chris.”

Since there wasn’t any sign of the birth starting, like at all, Dr. Lange recommended initiating the
birth today. It wasn’t the natural way you had hoped for, but the safety of your child was more
important than anything.

Karl kissed D/N’s forehead. “And when you come back, your brother or sister will be here too.”

Chris went in for a sideways hug with you, smiling kindly. “Good luck, Y/N. You’re gonna do just
fine.”

Your husband pushed him away with a snarl. “Stop flirting with my wife, you dickhead.”

“Just because I’m more handsome than you doesn’t mean I’ll take Y/N from you.” Chris teased
back, receiving a warning look from Karl. “Alright! Come on D/N.”
You waved after them with a smile, knowing D/N was safe and protected if she was with Chris.
Once alone with Karl, you turned to the bed and grabbed your phone, reading the excited and
encouraging messages the other Lords and the Dimitrescu sisters have sent you. The experience
was so different now that giving birth wasn’t just something you experience with Karl, but with a
whole family around you who are just as excited about it.

Karl hugged you from behind, his hands holding your bump up to give you some relief from its
weight. He laid his head on your shoulder, looking at your screen.

“How are you feeling?”

You leaned against him gratefully. “A bit anxious, if I’m being honest. I can’t wait to have the kid
out of my body.”

His chuckle rattled in his chest and against your back. “Not surprising. This pregnancy was a lot
harder on you than the first.”

“…I’m scared.” You finally admitted, something you realize you should have talked about with
him earlier and not now when the birth was this close.

“You’ll be just fine, you did perfectly well the first time around.” He assured you, holding you a
little closer still.

But you shook your head with a heavy sigh. “It’s not the birth that scares me. It’s the time
afterwards.”

Karl nuzzled his nose against your hair. “You mean D/N, right?”

“The baby will need so much attention from us, what if I forget about D/N again? I don’t want
that.” You felt close to tears, a steady burning in your eyes as you refused to give in to them.

He pulled away, but stayed close, turning you around and taking your phone away, making sure you
paid attention to him.

“Hey, I know how terrifying it is, we aren’t the perfect parents, Y/N. But we don’t need to be, as
long as we stay committed to our children and try our best to make them happy. D/N will be fine,
we can do this.”

“…I think I’ll book another therapy appointment.” You replied with a wavering smile, trying your
best to stay positive.

Karl let his lips linger on your forehead, hands running up and down your back. “Anything that
makes you feel better, my love. Just remember you’re not alone in this.”

And then Dr. Lange walked in, and you knew it was time for business. Your worries could wait a
few hours until you finally meet the newest addition to the family.

Eight hours later

The birth was difficult and long, your body fighting to keep up with the need to push, at one point
your trusted doctor even started talking about a C-Section. But you pulled through, you couldn’t
even comprehend how, but you were rewarded with the sight of your baby.
A boy, this time, that you named S/N Klaus Heisenberg, the middle name that of Karl’s father,
mirroring D/N’s. After nursing him for the first time, you all but passed out into the sweet embrace
of sleep, being woken up by Karl about two hours later.

He was whispering, not wanting to strain you. “Chris and D/N are in the hallway. Are you up for
company?”

You smiled tiredly and nodded. “I wanna see D/N meet her brother.”

Karl grinned brightly, pressing a quick kiss to your lips before turning to the cradle next to the bed.
He lifted the newborn out and into your arms, the child whining quietly but shushed as you kissed
the top of his head.

Karl went to the door, opening it and crouching down to meet D/N, speaking quietly. “Hey
Mäusschen, did you have fun?”

“Where’s the baby!?” She asked, trying to push past her father, but he held her firmly but gently.

“Hold up, we gotta be quiet alright? Mommy and the baby are still tired.”

D/N nodded and let him pick her up, and after he had a quick chat with Chris, the group walked
over to your bed. You swear you saw your daughters eyes light up when she saw the small being in
your arms, wiggling excitedly in Karl’s arms.

Karl set D/N down on the bed with you and she crawled to your side, hovering over the baby to
make out every little detail.

With your free hand, you reached out and combed your fingers through her hair. “D/N, meet your
little brother S/N.”

“He’s so small, Mommy.” D/N said in awe, tiny hands touching even tinier ones.

“You were just as small when you were born.” Karl chuckled and sat down at the edge of the bed,
watching the first interaction between his two children with a warm heart.

As D/N continued to inspect her brother, Chris walked around the bed to the other side, taking a
seat.

“How are you feeling, Y/N? Heard you had some trouble.”

You shrugged, holding back a yawn. “I’m okay now. S/N is healthy and I just need to rest. Thank
you for looking after D/N for us.”

“Oh it was fun.” Chris grinned. “The kid has so much energy to burn through.”

But now, she was yawning and rubbing her eyes, obviously tired from the day she had spent with
the agent. It suited you just fine, happy to know you’ll soon fall asleep surrounded by your family.
You were glad that Umbrella had been kind enough to give you a bigger bed this time.

The conversation trailed off into small talk, which ended with Chris taking his leave about 15
minutes later to give you all time to rest. Karl helped you move over in the bed before changing the
diapers on both children and putting D/N in her pyjamas you had packed and S/N in the onesie
Donna had made for him.
D/N fell asleep the second she hit the bed again and you settled down on your side to her left and
Karl on her right with S/N on his chest. You put the small blanket for D/N over her before throwing
the big one over Karl and you, him adjusting it slightly to cover S/N.

Finally settled and ready to be pulled back to sleep, Karl smiled contently at you.

“I love you, Y/N. I’m proud of you and I know we’ll be just fine.”

And you believed him, making you breathe a sigh of relief as you met his eye.

“I love you too, Karl.”

Three days later

“Mother! Look at the small toes!” Daniela swooned over S/N in the cradle.

“He’s so adorable!” Bela agreed, Cassandra humming happily.

Alcina tried to grimace, but even she who hated men with a passion couldn’t hide her love for the
little boy. S/N watched the faces hovering above him with blurry eyes, not displaying a single
worry at the many voices that filled your living room.

D/N stood on the tips of her toes to look into the cradle her little brother laid in, struggling to climb
into it. It has only been three days but D/N showed a protectiveness over the baby you hadn’t quite
expected from her, given her outburst during the pregnancy.

The whole cradle jostled as D/N finally managed to get inside, startling S/N who whimpered. D/N
wanted to comfort him and grabbed his hands, but the move only made him cry out more. She
couldn’t yet comprehend how frail S/N was compared to her, especially with her Cadou infected
blood giving her more strength than a toddler her age should possess.

You went over and gently pushed Bela to the side so you could step up and shush the infant.

D/N pouted up at you. “I wanna play with him, Mommy!”

“I know you do, love.” You chuckled. “But you have to wait until he’s a bit bigger, then you two
can tousle all you want.”

A shadow cast over you as Alcina stood behind you, her long arms reaching down to grab D/N and
lift her up. The toddler laughed, loving to look down at everyone else as her aunt towered over
them.

“Besides, my dear, you have far more important things to do.” The giantess grinned at her.

D/N tilted her head. “I do?”

“Oh yes!” She exclaimed, looking over to where her siblings sat on the couch. “You see, sweetness,
you’re the oldest, so you need to make sure S/N will behave in the future.”

“Yeah right, since that worked out for you.” Karl barked a laugh.

Moreau joined in. “Y-Yeah!”

Alcina rolled her eyes and ignored her brothers. “Don’t listen to the men-things.”

“You’ll be the responsible older sister just like Alcina.” Donna chimed in and D/N seemed excited
about taking in a similar role her aunt had.

Karl scoffed and muttered to himself more than anyone. “Just not gonna be such a bitch.”

It earned him a half-hearted glare from you, that he answered with a pleased smirk.

Two months later, Karl’s POV

Today was the day I had both dreaded and looked forward to, in a sense. D/N was soon to be four
years old and it was time to see what she was able to do with her inherited magnetism powers.

I dreaded today, because of my own experiences. When I was first met with my powers, I was
alone, just left to deal with it. I had metal fly at my head for no apparent reason, pieces getting
stuck on me without me being able to remove them again. It was terrifying.

But that was why today was so important: D/N isn’t alone. While she is younger than I was when
my powers came to me, she had me as backup. I may have been holding her back since she came
into existence, but I was still able to feel her strength. It was time to test it.

The location was a whole other issue, Umbrella bitching about doing this in a secluded safe space
in their base, but I refused. I wanted this to be just me and my daughter, not being surrounded by
agents just waiting to find a reason to intervene. Plus, I didn’t want to be far away from Y/N and
S/N, one never knows in our kind of lives.

So, with a bit of help from Chris, I was allowed to use a nearby open field that was still under
Umbrella’s regulations. D/N ran ahead of me, a bag of metal bits from my workstation floating at
my side as I kept my eyes on her.

She was excited when I told her what I had planned for us, but I was sure she didn’t see the
importance and danger behind it. I think she assumes her powers are just like mine, controlled and
powerful. While powerful certainly was a word I’d use to describe her, she won’t have any control
over her magnetic fields and that realization was soon to come.

“Can we start now?!” D/N jumped around me, trying to snatch the floating bag beside me.

“Yeah, yeah. Just calm the fuck down for a second.” I clicked my tongue and crouched down to her
level. “Remember what I said earlier? I need you to concentrate.”

“I am!” She exclaimed without hesitation, not convincing me.

Aside from inheriting my magnetic abilities, D/N was also a lot like me in character: Hot-headed,
sometimes short-thinking, cocky and stubborn as fuck.

And although it made me more than uneasy, I knew that the only way she’d understand how
important this was, was by learning it the hard way.

With a sigh, I reached up and untied the bag, the metal bits inside floating outside and settling on
the ground surrounding us. D/N vibrated with excitement.
I straightened back up and crossed my arms over my chest. “Alright, you really want me to just let
you wing it?”

As I expected, D/N nodded. I hesitated for a moment longer before slowly withdrawing my
magnetic hold over the metal, watching closely as I basically set D/N loose. The light metal parts
started to float, shaking in the air as D/N struggled with her strength. The heavy stuff remained on
the ground, dragging in the dirt as she attracted them towards her.

At first, she remained excited, watching what was hidden from her for all her short life. The trouble
only started when she decided she wanted to try and stop the items that still crept closer to her,
because she realized she couldn’t.

That was the limit of her powers right now: Attracting stuff was easy, happening without a thought
wasted, as any normal magnet would. The problem was stopping them, deciding how far they could
travel.

As I watched her smile slowly fade, replaced by a hint of worry, I saw myself in her once again. A
small child, scared of the fact that she was vulnerable even against her own power.

Her emotions ended up fuelling the attraction, the scrap moving faster and she cowered to the
ground, pressing her eyes closed in fear. It suddenly happened so fast that she couldn’t even think
to ask me for help.

The point in which I stepped back in was when the metal that floated started to drop, threatening to
hit her, so I let them remain floating. It was a hard scene to watch, but a lesson she needed to learn;
Never underestimate your own power.

I approached her and crouched down. “Hey Mäusschen, open your eyes.”

D/N did so slowly, looking relieved that I intervened despite her earlier confidence.

“I know it’s scary. It was scary for me too.”

“Y-You’re not scared of anything…” She said, watching the metal slowly float back to the ground.

There was a part of me that felt the need to tell her that I only seem that way, tell her all the things
that terrify me, but that wasn’t something to talk about with a toddler.

So, instead I smiled. “I was a kid too once, I also needed to learn how to use my power.”

“How?” She asked curiously.

“Long story. What you need to know is that you and I will figure this out together, alright?” I
answered her instead, her next question coming unexpected and hitting deep.

“Did your daddy show you how?”

In times like these, I miss my trusty sunglasses, that shielded what I couldn’t manage to hide from
the world, and D/N is a smart cookie, realizing something shifted inside me even if I didn’t show it
outright.

“…Don’t think about it, darling.” I finally said with a sigh. “Maybe I’ll tell you about all that shit
when you’re older. How about we try this again, but this time together?”
The fake smile was enough to put her at ease again, even if I was sure she wasn’t going to just
forget this moment. I brushed my emotions aside, forcing them down to wait to be unleased again
once I was alone with Y/N, who would help me work through them.

D/N’s first official training was more important right now.

Six months later, Reader’s POV

S/N laughed up at you as you blew raspberries to his belly, the parasol shielding you from the direct
sun.

Today was special, because it was a big family trip to a lake. It had taken a while to get it approved
by Umbrella, the company finding a secluded lake and organizing some agents that would shadow
you. You were able to ignore them mostly, but whenever you spot them again, hidden in the
shadows, you’d feel a bit uneasy. But well, that’s just how your life is now.

Donna, Angie, You and S/N were laying together on the big towel, talking and playing with the
infant. Moreau swam in the lake in his mutated form, showing off little tricks to the entertainment
of D/N and the Dimitrescu sisters.

Karl and Alcina stood in the water, Karl up to his hips and his sister to her knees, talking about this
and that in content companionship.

Life was peaceful, but never boring.

As Bela, Cassandra and Daniela climbed onto Moreau’s back, getting ready for a ride, D/N
returned to your side, looking a little tired.

“Wanna take a nap?” You asked her as she climbed into your lap.

She nodded and snuggled against your chest, yawning. “Aunt Donna promised me to come swim
with me later.”

“And I will.” Donna promised her, stroking a hand down her back.

D/N rubbed her eyes and instead of falling asleep on you, crawled over to where Donna and Angie
were laying and snuggling up against the dollmaker, falling asleep soon after.

Donna smiled brightly. “Look how cute they are!”

You pressed a soft kiss to S/N’s forehead. “The cutest…”

“How are his powers coming along?” Angie asked curiously.

“I feel like he only held back during the pregnancy.” You chuckled fondly. “If I didn’t balance out
his powers with my own, we’d have another round of unpredictable weather.”

“Oh God no.” Angie laughed. “It was bad enough with you.”

You glared at the doll, even if you knew she was absolutely right.

“Don’t you dare, you brat!” Alcina yelled in pure outrage, telling you that even before you looked,
Karl was up to something.
Donna and you looked over at them, Karl readying himself to jump. Using his inhuman strength, he
managed to push Alcina back by her shoulders, making her stumble over and down to the water.

The duo dived under, and you sighed. “Great, might go back home without a husband.”

Alcina hadn’t planned to actually swim, her prim and proper makeup and hairstyle ruined when she
emerged again. Karl came up next, laughing directly at his sister's angry face until she towered over
him and pushed him down into the water again.

This continued on for a little while, the siblings trying to drown each other until they decided to
leave it at a draw.

Alcina walked out of the water with a growl, grabbing her towel to dry herself off. Karl looked
more than pleased with himself, grinning even as Donna and you gave him a disapproving look.

“Hey, she asked for it!” He laughed, Alcina rolling her eyes.

“I didn’t ask for you to do it, you menace!”

He pointed at her accusingly. “You said I was too weak to push you down, so there you have it.”

He bend down and picked up S/N, making him laugh as he was allowed to grab onto Karl’s wet
hair and play with it. Ever in the mood to tease you, he stood over you so the water that was
dripping down ended up on you.

“Karl! You’re making me wet!” You complained, wanting to slap yourself as soon as the words left
you.

Karl, of course, winked smugly. “You trying to seduce me, out here in front of our family and those
agents? Naughty girl, you!”

“That one’s on you, Y/N.” Angie shrilly laughed, making you groan in irritation.

Karl gave one last shake before giving you a break, settling down next to you with S/N in his lap.

Alcina finally dried off fully, dropping down on her own blanket and glaring at Karl. “You know,
dear brother, I do believe in things like karma, and I’m sure you annoying all the women around
you will turn out bad for you.”

Karl scoffed, not noticing what S/N was about to do that Alcina had spotted already. “Oh please,
nothing is gonna ha-APPEN!”

S/N laughed as loud as a baby his age could, holding a bundle of Karl’s chest hair in his hands and
almost proudly showing it off. As Karl hissed in pain, Donna, Alcina and you busted out laughing,
you having to hold your belly with the intensity. D/N grumbled in her sleep, not waking up but
close to after all this noice around her.

It was the first sign that S/N’s Cadou traces in his body gave him the expected inhuman strength at
such an early age, obviously not as strong as any of you, but still stronger than a human baby.

Three years later

With D/N being seven and S/N three years old respectively, your house was filled with joyful
screams and stupid bickering since the early morning. Now though, as it was later in the evening,
the house was silent.

And any parent can tell you that if your kids are silent, they’re up to something.

It took you a moment to find them, approaching the couch, knowing Karl was taking a nap on it to
digest his dinner. Quiet giggles already told you you’d find your kids with him, but you hadn’t
expected what they were up to.

D/N and S/N both held one of Karl’s hands, painting his nails with black nail polish as Karl softly
snore, unaware of his beauty treatment. The two small bottles were balanced on his stomach,
threatening to tip over at every breath he took, but seeing as they didn’t, you knew D/N was
utilizing the little metal balls in them to balance them out.

You sighed with an amused smirk. “What do you two think you’re doing?”

S/N turned his head to grin at you. “Making Daddy’s nails pretty.”

You picked up one of the bottles to examine them. “Did you steal those from your aunt?”

“No.” D/N answered simply, continuing doing her task. “Daniela gave them to me.”

“Okay, so Daniela stole them and you kept them.” You chuckled, getting a bit more serious.
“Alright you two, you know it’s almost your bedtime, leave your father alone.”

“But he said he’ll tell us a story later!” S/N whined, quickly finishing up on Karl’s left hand before
you picked him up.

“And I’m sure he will, after you two go upstairs and brush your teeth.” You put your foot down,
D/N reluctantly climbing down from her father.

You closed the nail polishes as the two ran up the stairs, racing and jokingly threatening the other
with their respective powers.

“No lighting or metal throwing inside the house!” You yelled after them, shaking your head fondly.

“I was enjoying myself, you know.” Karl’s rough voice startled you.

When you looked back down at him, he was blinking sleepily up with a little smirk.

“I was wondering how you could sleep with them climbing on you.” You grinned, leaning down to
kiss him, which he leaned up to with a happy hum.

“They were having fun, didn’t have the heart to tell them off. Besides, black nails suit me more
than Alcina.”

“Papa! D/N schlägt mich!” (“Papa, D/N is hitting me!”) S/N called down, followed by an annoyed
scream from him.

“Tue ich gar nicht!” (“No, I’m not!”) D/N called right after.
Karl couldn’t help but snicker to himself, teasingly looking at you. “Were you able to catch that,
my student?”

You rolled your eyes at him. “Something about hitting, I think.”

It shouldn’t have been a surprise to you when the children started to speak German with Karl, him
having been teaching them, but it left you behind to ponder about what the hell the three were
talking about. So now Karl was teaching you, and slowly but surely, you picked the language up.

You tapped his thigh. “Up you go, the kids need to get to bed.”

“Alright, alright.” He mumbled, stretching himself and getting up.

He kissed you once again before going up the stairs, calling after the kids as they scrambled to get
to their shared room before he arrived. You smiled after him, walking to the kitchen to finish up
with the dishes before you’d eventually go upstairs to wish your kids a good night.

After fifteen minutes, you did just that. As you approached the slightly ajar door to their bedroom,
you heard Karl telling his story. And the closer you got, the more dread weighed on you as you
realized which story it was.

“…when the girl entered the forests dark heart, she was met with an iron steed, wearing a golden
gear on its head.”

“Like ours!” S/N pointed at the wall, where you had painted the Heisenberg house crest.

Karl nodded, continuing on. “It said nothing when the girl approached, but she took the golden gear
and that made the steed angry. It summoned the other monsters to its side, the ones that once helped
the little girl now caged her in.”

You bit your lips, shocked and angry. Karl and you never even mentioned the village to the kids,
not seeing a point to it yet and there was no need to scare them with the very real tale. You couldn’t
believe Karl was telling this story now, contemplating about bursting in to stop him, but your gut
told you to wait.

“A dark mist stirred and when it was lifted, the girl was face to face with an evil witch. She said
‘Gifts we gave, but more you took, so more in turn is due’ and she trapped the girl inside a mirror.”

“That bitch…” D/N growled lowly.

Karl huffed half a laugh. “You have no fucking idea, Mäusschen.”

“Is the girl now trapped forever?” S/N asked worriedly and to your surprise, Karl shook his head.

“The girl's parents didn’t stop searching for her.”

You found yourself just as pulled into the story as the kids were, seeing the contrast to how he had
once told the story to you.

“When they found her, the father fought the evil witch while the mother destroyed the mirror,
saving the little girl. The dark forest burned down as the father set the bitch on fire and the family
made their way to the safety of their home.”
 Karl looked at his children with a smile full of earnest love. “Now, I want you two to remember
something. If an evil bitch ever catches you, don’t even for a second think your mother and I aren’t
on our way to save you. Got that?”

D/N yawned with a nod. “You’ll kick her ass.”

The children settled down, not understanding the weight the story held to both Karl and you, who
had found yourselves in the middle of the dark fairy tale. He bend down to kiss them good night
and you stepped away from the door.

Karl was startled a little when he exited the room, noticing your sly smile.

“I thought there aren’t happy endings in real life?”

“Funny you say that.” Karl sighed with a sentimental smile. “I used to think that too.”

His words brought tears to your eyes and you pulled him into an embrace, snuggling against him
when he put his arms around you tightly. Words failed you in that moment, but you communicated
your feelings with your actions, reuniting your lips with his in a kiss that meant more than words
could ever translate anyway.

You parted only for a moment, Karl letting you step into the bedroom to wish your children a good
night as well, kissing both of their heads and telling them how much you loved them.

Afterwards, Karl and you settled down in your own bed, pressing close as if you couldn’t get
enough of each other’s warmth, which in a way was true.

“I love you, Karl Heisenberg.” You whispered into the small space between your faces, caressing
his cheek lovingly.

And Karl smiled back at you, with so much love mirrored in his eyes that he didn’t need to speak
the words back to you, yet he did it anyway.

“I love you too, Y/N Heisenberg.”

Chapter End Notes

And with that, we have finished this story. I thank you all for reading, commenting and
everything else, I loved being on this journey with you all! While we’re here, I have a
confession to make: I never actually played the whole game for myself. I watched some Let's
plays, but I myself played right up to the point of entering Heisenberg’s factory, because I
couldn’t bring myself to go further, especially not killing Karl.

Please let me know what you called S/N, I loved reading your ideas for D/N! For me, it’s
Anthony, because I’ve been saving that name for years.

As I said before, I’m currently talking with an artist that will draw some illustrations and I’ll
post them next once they’re all finished.
Now, if you’d still like to read more from me, I have at least three more stories planned. And
here are the summaries if you’re interested:

- Have you ever wondered why Lady Dimitrescu hates men so much? What the relationship
between Donna and Claudia Beneviento is? Why Moreau is so obsessed with Mother
Miranda? Or why Heisenberg hates his oldest sister the most out of his siblings?
Capcom didn’t give us much lore to those amazing characters, and I would like to change that.
In this story, I will try and dig up as much canon lore as I can and add my own thoughts into
the mix, trying to give the four Lords of the village the backstory they deserve.

- It was no secret why she was walking this earth as the second daughter of Mother Miranda.
She was meant to be the perfect vessel for Eva, but motherly love wouldn’t let Miranda kill
one daughter to save the other.
And so, she is her mother’s second in command, standing above the four Lords as not one of
their siblings, but a higher power. She is devoted to following her mother’s every wish,
because Miranda loved her and would never let harm come to her. Or so she thought…
(Heisenberg x OC/Reader)

- A special request by @DeddedbyGlamour, a Donna x Reader One-Shot.

I thank you all for the more than enjoyable time with you and I hope you stay around to read
my next works.
 Drawings and Extras
Chapter Notes

Hi everyone!! It's been a while, how are you all? It took me almost exactly a year to finally
repost this and since I made you guys wait so long I added a few more of extra stuff to the
pictures! Please let me know if you can't see the pictures, that was the issue last time so I tried
a different way of adding pictures to AO3.

Also check out that link at the end, the amazing @overused_underated has written an extra
chapter for this story! It takes place after Y/N and Karl move into their new home!

All drawings are made by @freedomAttack_thereal on Instagram/Twitter. Check her out, her
drawings are so good and I've been following her for a while now, she's so amazing!
First Meeting: Miranda was rather pleased when I dragged that woman into her gaze, which made
me annoyed beyond measure. I didn't want to do anything that made her even remotely happy, but I
knew I needed to keep my cover. The woman I found was feisty, she killed two Lycans in the time
that I tracked her, which made her even more interesting to me. I loved watching her flinch away
from us, it was almost cute. My interest in her was piqued highly when Miranda made her choose
which Lord shall take her in for the time being. I didn't really care about the extra work, I only
wanted to beat Alcina, can't let the bitch have all the fun after all. Oh, and what is this? The woman
chose me? How stupid that was for her, even if she couldn't know. Doesn't matter now, she's going
to be my little toy for the time being. I wonder what her name is? It's been so long since Miranda
last allowed me to have one of her experiments, at the very least it's been two decades. Guess she
decided to trust me again after what happened to the last one she gave me, wasn't my fault he
couldn't handle the Cadou and ran straight into my furnace, I only opened the doors for him after
all. This woman though, this was different, Miranda never before felt the need to remind me to
keep a subject alive. Guess I can still play around with her, but it's such a headache having to make
sure she isn't harmed too badly. Oh well, how much trouble can this truly be?
It scares me: How pathetic I sounded. "It scares me."? Why did I ADMIT that? Any of it? I
couldn't fathom those feelings inside of me, they didn't make sense to me. I cared about someone,
how fucked up was that? Why was Y/N making it so easy to open up? All these questions, yet I
couldn't answer them. Y/N was comforting me, she wanted me to feel better, which too was a new
concept for me. She wanted to stay with me, even after all she'd seen and gone through at my
hands. Maybe she really was stupid, or maybe she felt just as weirdly warm about me as I did for
her. Since the day I first took her into my factory I felt that she was something different than the
few others Miranda gave me before her. Y/N is different, she makes my thoughts spin in ways that I
can't understand. My brain, my only ally so far, has never before been so preoccupied with
someone else, Y/N didn't leave my mind even when I needed to concentrate on my work. Nothing
in my life has ever come close to what she makes me feel and think and I can't yet decide if the
danger that she can hold over me like this is worth it for something else she could give me that
could make me see something else than misery in my life.
Kissing: Well, that was unexpected. While I had fucked around in the village, I never kissed
anyone. It felt weird and the mood never struck me to try such a thing. And yet as Y/N brushed her
lips against mine, I couldn't resist the urge to lean in for long. Our lips met and all my conflicting
feelings went silent, replaced by pure instinct and desire. My hands grabbed her hips, my head
tilted to the side so we'd fit together perfectly, and everything just suddenly felt so good. Was
kissing supposed to feel like entering a new world? I never thought I could be so cheesy about this,
but my God, Y/N tasted like the first drop of water after a drought and her lips felt like a velvet
pillow against mine. I can never recover from this, Y/N has me caught in her snare of warmth and I
don't think I can ever free myself even if I wanted to try. Whether she realized this or not, now that
I was caught, I will be holding on to her tightly. She is mine, all mine.
First time: I was nervous as all fucking hell. I hoped Y/N couldn’t tell, I wanted her to feel good,
not worried about me. When her wanton walls embraced my cock, pulsing around it, my mind
basically whited out. I’ve never felt like this before. Sex had always been pleasurable for me, but
this wasn’t just sex. This felt like way more, something so special and delicate. I realized that if I
could just stay like this, with her, for the rest of eternity, I would be happy. Truly happy. And her
words when we were basking in the glory of our orgasms, her soft tone when she confessed her
love for me. Oh fuck, I wanted to say it back, but my throat closed up even by thinking about it. I
kissed her, I fucked her, I shared pretty much everything with her…but I couldn’t give her this,
those three words were too much to overcome for me. So, I gave her the best thing I could manage,
hoping that she's understand. “But I guess I don’t hate you.”
Bound to me: Y/N wanted me to bind her to me. A part of me wanted to shake her until she’d grab
a sense of reality again, wanted to scream at her face that it was stupid to offer herself to me like
that. Had she forgotten how she ended up here?! But the bigger part of me, the one that was more
selfish perhaps, couldn’t do that. I wanted Y/N to be mine, in any way possible. With this cuff,
even if she at one point tries to leave me, I wouldn’t let her. I know this cuff was a promise that
she’d stay with me, that she was committed to me, but I don’t think I’ll ever compleatly shake the
thought that she’d betray me off. When I snapped the cuff closed over her forearm and mended the
metal together, I felt both happiness and dread at the realization of what we just committed to.
When Y/N looked at me with tears in her eyes, thanking me for what I just did, I couldn’t help but
get emotional as well. She hugged me, wanting me to feel comfortable while the tears started to
dwell in my eyes, and I couldn’t help but giggle. How can this feel so good and yet so wrong? A
long long time ago, back when I was still living at the castle with Alcina as my caretaker, I had this
maid that always came and made sure I had everything before going to bed. She was married and I
asked her why she felt the need to stay still in her life like this, I couldn't understand the idea of
being stuck in the same place with the same person for all my life. She told me that she was in love
and, curious as I was, I wanted to know how she knew. She told me "When you love something, set
it free. If it comes back to you, it loves you too." I haven't thought about any of this in ages but
now, looking at the cuff around Y/N's arm, I asked myself if she'd come back if I set her free and
decided that I would not entertain the idea of over finding out.
Nightmare: “Mama! Wo bist du?!” I called out to her, a distant part of me realizing that something
was wrong. My voice was far too deep for me to still be a child, like I just was seconds ago, but all
the horror I just saw made it impossible for me to think clearly. A hand touched my shoulder and I
snapped around to face the person behind me, hoping to see my mother, but being faced with a
different woman instead. “W-Wo bin ich?” I asked, disoriented and confused. She looked at me
with pity and sorrow, her warm hand coming to rest on my cheek. “Karl, my love, I’m so sorry but
I don’t understand what you’re saying.” She said, and her voice was the key I needed to finally
snap out of my panicked state. I mirrored her, touching her cheek and saying her name. She hugged
me and sobbed, pulling me as close as she possibly could. I exhaled tiredly and for the first time
since coming to this village, I cried openly in front of another person. What I didn’t expect is for
that to feel so freeing, yet so terrifying at the same time.
Let Ethan come: Y/N was terrified of Ethan Winters. I guess that’s understandable, given that he
really is more than just an ordinary man, but he didn’t faze me at all. I held her close while she was
sitting in my lap, trying to comfort her while still pushing my plan along. If I can get Ethan on my
side, Miranda is absolutely done for! He’s the last bit of weaponry I’ll need to finally free not only
myself, but also my Y/N. But not only Ethan would be an asset, but his daughter’s abilities as well.
Harvesting them will be difficult, but not impossible. Yet, I knew I couldn’t tell Y/N about that part
of my plan, she’ll never see reason. I’m stressed enough as it is, I really didn’t want to fight with
her more than I already have. I’ve hurt her feelings already, I knew I will again if we’d bud heads
once more, and I really didn’t want that. I told her I’d change when all this was over, and I was
serious about that. I didn’t want to be a monster, I didn't want to have my anger consume me so
whole that I couldn't think straight anymore. But change has to wait. For that same burning anger
that hurt Y/N's feelings is the same anger that fuels my will to end Miranda once and for all.
Nothing would stand in my way of ending this.
When love turned to hate: (Since I talked about this scene in the bonus chapter, I’ll show Karl’s
POV of the fight that caused it all.) “If you really think about using Rose, then you’re just like
Mother Miranda.” I couldn’t believe what I had just heard, much less from who those words came
from. I felt numb, my body going limb as my heart broke inside of my chest. She…She betrayed
me after all. After everything we went through, after all the promises she made, she still went
against me in the end. How dare she tell me she loves me, and then say something so vile. She said
my name, but I couldn’t have that. She used to be the only one allowed to call me by my first name,
she was the only one I felt close enough to let her use the name that my parents gave me. The only
people that ever truly loved me, I was sure of that now. And now, when she had stomped on my
heart, I couldn’t let Y/N use it anymore. My powers reacted before my mind could catch up,
throwing Y/N across the room and fixing her against the wall. Her wide, terrified eyes watched me
when I approached her and at that moment, my mind was made up. For deceiving me and making
me believe I am worthy of receiving love, she deserves to die at my hands. Revenge, the longing
for it, is all I could focus on anymore. Revenge on Miranda and revenge on Y/N. I was sure the
pain that I felt when those words left Y/N's mouth could only be forced into silence if I can make
her silent as well. Love and hate really do lie close together.
Birth of D/N: I am a father. What a wild fucking concept to me. Y/N was fast asleep in my arms,
but even though I am wide awake and love to watch her, my eyes aren’t on her, but on the tiny
being that laid upon my chest. D/N is fucking adorable, there was no other word to describe her. I
have a daughter, this is my child. I couldn’t keep my hands away from her, I felt this need to pet her
head, to stroke my fingers over her back and to gently pinch her cheek. If this is a dream, then I
don’t ever want to wake up again. Carefully, so I wouldn’t wake up Y/N, I leaned my head down
and kissed D/N’s head. I wanted to make sure that she knew, even when just about an hour old, I
was here with her and will protect and love her forever.
Wedding: As I was dancing with Y/N at my own wedding, I thought back to the village. I thought
back at the broken man I once was, and I wanted to go back and tell that man that he doesn’t have
to worry as much. That our future does look bright, that we will leave this damn village and that we
will end up happy. That Miranda wouldn’t always be a part of us, that even though we have done so
many terrible things, we won’t be monsters forever. And when I looked around and saw the faces
of my strange family, I wanted to tell him that perhaps they aren’t as horrible as we always though.
But dwelling on the past was doing nothing and looking at the future was much more enjoyable. I
have a beautiful, smart and absolutely amazing wife and an adorable and amazing daughter as well,
and despite of my age, I felt like my life was only just beginning.
A happy family: Of all the things that I thought might happen to us once we escaped the village,
this certainly wasn't on my list. My family was bigger than ever, with my siblings at my side, my
nieces, my lovely wife and my two children, all posing for a family picture. I couldn't bring myself
to admit it out loud, but in the end, I was rather glad things turned out this way. Y/N was right,
maybe we all deserved a happy ending.
A Dream Of Deception
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40642221
End Notes

Hope you enjoyed!

Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!